The proverb ‘home is where the heart is’ is pretty much ubiquitous in modern culture. We hear it very often. Nevertheless, this maxim is much older than you probably think. In fact, its origins lie not in the English language at all, but in the Latin language and in ancient Roman times.
Home is where the heart is is a phrase that is usually deemed to have been coined by Pliny the Elder who was a Roman historian.
Pliny the Elder wrote works on natural history (for instance, works on the habits of animals), however he also found time to philosophize about matters such as family life – it is from this latter strand in Pliny’s thought that we get the phrase, home is where the heart is. Pliny the Elder lived between 25 CE and 79 CE, which means that the phrase home is where the heart is is a very ancient one.
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