De mortuis nil nisi bonum

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The Latin phrase de mortuis nil nisi bonum dicendum est is usually shortened to de mortuis nil nisi bonum or sometimes just nil nisi bonum. It is variously translated as "No one can speak ill of the dead," "Of the dead, speak no evil," or, more literally, "Let nothing be said of the dead but what is good."

This expression is used in modern parlance with two nearly contradictory significances. In legal contexts, it refers to the principle of British, American, and other legal systems that defaming a deceased person is not actionable. In colloquial contexts, it indicates that it is socially inappropriate to say anything negative about a (recently) deceased person.

The first recorded use of the phrase is by Diogenes Laertius in The Lives and Opinions of the Eminent Philosophers, where he attributes it to Chilon.

Another appearance in literature comes from Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s "Player Piano." Vonnegut uses the term in reference to a person who is being excluded from the group in power, rather than a deceased person.

A cinematic use appears early in the film, Lawrence of Arabia, during T. E. Lawrence's funeral scene. Two characters are looking at a bust of Lawrence and one, a clergyman, says, "Well, nil nisi bonum, but does he really deserve a place in here?" referring to St. Paul's Cathedral where the scene takes place.