liberat arua prius fruticibus,
falce rubos filicemque resecat,
ut noua fruge grauis Ceres eat." - Meaning and context.">
Who fain would sow the fallow field,
And see the growing corn,
Must first remove the useless weeds,
The bramble and the thorn.
 • Poem I, lines 1-4; translation by H. R. James
“

''Qui serere ingenuum uolet agrum
liberat arua prius fruticibus,
falce rubos filicemque resecat,
ut noua fruge grauis Ceres eat.

— Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "''Qui serere ingenuum uolet agrum
liberat arua prius fruticibus,
falce rubos filicemque resecat,
ut noua fruge grauis Ceres eat." in the context of "Who fain would sow the fallow field,
And see the growing corn,
Must first remove the useless weeds,
The bramble and the thorn.
 • Poem I, lines 1-4; translation by H. R. James" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius" (Quotes, The Consolation of Philosophy · De Consolatione Philosophiae, Book III) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius

About Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius

Ancius Manlius Severinus Boethius (c. 480–524 CE) was a Roman Christian philosopher, poet, and politician.