Letter: Mirror, mirror, on the bathroom wall
Sir: John Osborne braces himself with a maxim as he performs his ablutions: 'Since I gave up hope I feel so much better' (Living, 26 April). But I think Virgil was there first, with 'Una salus victis nullam sperare salutem' (Aeneid, Book II, Verse 354), which means 'Losers have one salvation - to give up all hope of salvation.'
For the record, on my mirror it says: 'You are looking at the problem.'
Yours faithfully,
DONALD LEE
London, E2
1 May
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