Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret
“You may drive out nature with a pitchfork, yet she will always come back.”
Horace, Epistles 1.10.24
What does “Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret” mean?
Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret translates as “You may drive out nature with a pitchfork, yet she will always come back.”
You can suppress your true nature for a while, but it always returns.
“Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret” word by word
| Latin | English | Grammar |
|---|---|---|
| Naturam | nature | accusative singular of natura, “nature, inborn character”; the direct object of expellas |
| expellas | you may drive out | present subjunctive, 2nd person singular, of expello, “I drive out”; a potential subjunctive: “you may / even if you do drive out” |
| furca | with a pitchfork | ablative singular of furca, “fork, pitchfork”; ablative of means (the tool used) |
| tamen | yet, nevertheless | adverb, setting up the contrast with the first clause |
| usque | always, continually | adverb, “all the way, without interruption”; here with the sense “time and again” |
| recurret | she will come running back | future indicative, 3rd person singular, of recurro, “I run back, return”; the subject is natura, understood from the first clause |
How to pronounce “Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret”
Both pronunciations sound the same here, since there is no c or g before e or i and no v or ae. In classical Latin the qu in usque is pronounced kw; the Church pronunciation is the same.
The story behind it
Word for word the line says “you may drive out nature with a pitchfork, yet she will keep running back”. The image is of someone forking an unwanted animal or weed out of the yard, only to see it return.
It comes from Horace, Epistles 1.10, a verse letter to his friend Fuscus Aristius, written in the first century BC. Horace praises life in the countryside, in tune with nature, over life in the city. The line is part of an argument that nature cannot be fully overcome by artificial living.
The verse became a proverb in its own right and is often quoted in the shortened form “Naturam expellas furca”. It is often paired with the idea that habit or temperament cannot be permanently suppressed, and it survives in many European languages as a saying about the persistence of character.
How to use “Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret”
Fits a tattoo or motto for someone who values staying true to their character, a caption for a photo in the countryside or the wild, or an essay point about temperament, habit and the limits of self-change.
- Latin
- Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret
- English
- You may drive out nature with a pitchfork, yet she will always come back.
- Source
- Horace, Epistles 1.10.24
- Era
- Antiquity
- Theme
- Nature
Common mistakes
- It is not about gardening or farming advice. The pitchfork is a picture of forceful, crude resistance.
- The subject of recurret is natura, not the pitchfork. “She” (nature) returns, not “it” in a general sense.
- Expellas is a subjunctive (“you may drive out”), not a plain statement. Rewriting it as expellis changes the grammar and the sense.
- The line is sometimes cut to “Naturam expellas furca” and presented as the whole saying, which loses the second half about her returning.
Questions about “Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret”
What does “Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret” mean literally?
“You may drive out nature with a pitchfork, yet she will keep coming back.” It means you cannot permanently suppress your true character.
Who said “Naturam expellas furca”?
The Roman poet Horace, in his Epistles, book 1, letter 10, line 24.
How do you pronounce “Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret”?
Classically: nah-TOO-rahm eks-PEL-lahs FOOR-kah TAH-men OOS-kweh reh-KOOR-ret. The Church pronunciation is the same for this line.
Is “Naturam expellas furca” good Latin for a tattoo?
Yes, it is genuine Horace and the grammar is correct. Use the full line if you want both halves of the thought, since the first part alone ends on the pitchfork and not on nature’s return.
More to explore
Translation and grammar checked by Latin Quoter · last reviewed November 2026
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