... there is no person who does not make some vice ...

[ZdenSvk]

Hello
While reading Seneca's 7th letter, I came upon this sentence: "To consort with the crowd is harmful; there is no person who does not make some vice attractive to us, or stamp it upon us, or taint us unconsciously therewith.

I am surprised by the double negative in this sentence. The meaning here is clearly "...there is always a person who makes some vice..." I was taught that it is a bad sentence construction (though it may be because in my mother tongue, double negative is still negative), yet here it is, in the translation of Seneca's Moral letters. The translation is from 1916, so there is a possibility that the language is little outdated. May anybody comment on the usage of double negatives in contemporary English? Does it result in positive statement, or negative? Any good source of information on this topic is appreciated.

Have a nice day
Zdenko

 

[Barque]

May Can/Would anybody comment on the usage of double negatives in contemporary English?

It's fairly common and often used for effect or emphasis. And sometimes it depends on what was said earlier.

Does it result in a positive statement, or a negative one?

When you say "positive", do you mean "positive-sounding"? Or "positive" as in "affirmative"? Either way, it depends on context. The negatives cancel out each other.

 

[5jj]

May anybody comment on the usage of double negatives in contemporary English?

It's not uncommon.

 

[Ms. Worth]

Hello
While reading Seneca's 7th letter, I came upon this sentence: "To consort with the crowd is harmful; there is no person who does not make some vice attractive to us, or stamp it upon us, or taint us unconsciously therewith.

I am surprised by the double negative in this sentence. The meaning here is clearly "...there is always a person who makes some vice..." I was taught that it is a bad sentence construction (though it may be because in my mother tongue, double negative is still negative), yet here it is, in the translation of Seneca's Moral letters. The translation is from 1916, so there is a possibility that the language is little outdated. May anybody comment on the usage of double negatives in contemporary English? Does it result in positive statement, or negative? Any good source of information on this topic is appreciated.

Have a nice day
Zdenko

Pile-ups of negatives are sometimes written as illustrations of bad academic writing.
In those cases, the writer is striving for an air of depersonalized gravitas.
Example:
"It is not without regret that we fail to omit the atypical misunderstanding not infrequently absent in writings not unlike this."
I suppose it's possible to unpack this, but it would never be worth the trouble.
This kind of thing gets out of control swiftly and the writer jounces along with it, piling up negative after negative without ever hearing that he has drowned the meaning.
Sentences like this example are sometimes used to parody or criticize academic writing for comic effect.

However, in the sentence you posted, I think the intention is for emphasis:
> Not one single solitary person, not even one, ...

Because there is no long string of negatives, it is not considered bad style or bad grammar.