Word of the day · Wednesday 5 August 2026
Qui totum vult totum perdit
Meaning: "He who wants everything, loses everything."
It’s a warning against greed and trying to grab too much at once. If you reach for it all, you’ll end up with nothing.
Pronounced: _kwee TOH-tum woolt TOH-tum PER-dit_
Sentence:
He tried to run 3 businesses at the same time without delegating. Qui totum vult totum perdit — now all of them are failing.
Other examples:
- She applied to 20 colleges last minute with no focus. Qui totum vult totum perdit.
- The investor put money in every crypto coin he saw. Qui totum vult totum perdit.
Quick way to remember:
Want totum = all → Lose totum = all. Greed backfires.
It’s basically the Latin version of jack of all trades, master of none.
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