Mi autoridad emana de vosotros y cesa ante vuestra presencia soberana.
“My authority emanates from you, and it ceases before your sovereign presence.”
Political authority is granted by the people and remains accountable to them, never above them.
— José Gervasio Artigas, Uruguay
Source: José Artigas, Instrucciones del Año XIII (1813); widely cited in Uruguayan historiography and inscribed at Uruguayan civic monuments
More Proverbs from Uruguay
Into a closed mouth, no flies enter.
Staying silent avoids trouble; discretion protects you from unnecessary conflict.
Better late than never.
Doing something after a delay is still better than never doing it at all.
He who grasps too much holds little.
Trying to do too many things at once means none of them get done well.
Do not look a gift horse in the mouth.
Do not criticize or question something that was given to you for free.
The shrimp that falls asleep gets swept away by the current.
Those who are not alert or attentive will miss their opportunity.
There is no bad from which some good does not come.
Even misfortune can eventually bring a hidden benefit.