____ διὰ πάντα τελευτᾷ.
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Θεὸς διὰ πάντα τελευτᾷ.Δεῖ φέρειν τὰ τῶν ____.
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Δεῖ φέρειν τὰ τῶν θεῶν.____ μυίας οὐ θηρεύει.
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Ἀετὸς μυίας οὐ θηρεύει.Μὴ ____ ἀντ᾽ ἀλφίτων.
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Μὴ λόγους ἀντ᾽ ἀλφίτων.____ κενοὶ βουλεύονται.
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Κενὰ κενοὶ βουλεύονται.Θεὸς διὰ πάντα τελευτᾷ.
God brings all things to completion.
The words come from Homer's Iliad, when Agamemnon is basically blaming Zeus for his quarrel with Achilles. The word διὰ is not a preposition here; instead, it is functioning as an adverb; later, these adverbs attached themselves to the verbs as prefixes (δια-τελευτάω), but they were more free-floating in Homer. This is called tmesis, "cutting" of the verb; you can read more at Wikipedia: Tmesis. The root of the verb is τέλος, meaning the end or outcome, and you can see that Greek root in English teleology.
Δεῖ φέρειν τὰ τῶν θεῶν.
It is necessary to endure the things of the gods.
In other words: you must endure the things that are sent by the gods; that is your fate, your destiny. The saying is found in Euripides' Phoenician Women.
Ἀετὸς μυίας οὐ θηρεύει.
An eagle does not hunt mice.
The idea is that someone great does not concern themselves with petty trifles, although eagles do in fact eat mice! Even the mighty bald eagle will eat mice if they cannot find better food.
The negating οὐ is used with indicative verbs as here, as opposed to the use of μὴ for subjunctive and imperative verbs as in the next saying.
Μὴ λόγους ἀντ᾽ ἀλφίτων.
Don't (offer) words in place of barley.
The idea is that when someone is hungry, words will not satisfy that hunger; instead of offering kind words and generous promises, you need to provide actual help by providing actual food. The negative μή manages to convey the force of a negative imperative, even though the saying does have an explicit verb.
Κενὰ κενοὶ βουλεύονται.
Useless people make useless plans.
The adjective κενός means literally "empty," but it also has a range of metaphorical meanings: fruitless, purposeless, useless, etc. From Greek English has adopted the theological word kenosis, which has a more positive sense of emptying oneself to make room for the divine; to find out more, see Wikipedia: Kenosis. ____ διὰ πάντα τελευτᾷ.
Δεῖ φέρειν τὰ τῶν ____.
____ μυίας οὐ θηρεύει.
Μὴ ____ ἀντ᾽ ἀλφίτων.
____ κενοὶ βουλεύονται.
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Θεὸς διὰ πάντα τελευτᾷ.Δεῖ φέρειν τὰ τῶν ____.
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Δεῖ φέρειν τὰ τῶν θεῶν.____ μυίας οὐ θηρεύει.
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Ἀετὸς μυίας οὐ θηρεύει.Μὴ ____ ἀντ᾽ ἀλφίτων.
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Μὴ λόγους ἀντ᾽ ἀλφίτων.____ κενοὶ βουλεύονται.
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Κενὰ κενοὶ βουλεύονται.
And to finish up, here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too:
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