"Lo spirito è forte ma la carne è debole."

Translation: The spirit is strong but the flesh is weak.

[MagnesiumSodium]

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised.

[noooooo1]

Haha, it time snusnu:)

[Margerose1949]

'The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak' is an English idiom and should be accepted. I will report. Love the comment about spongy and bruised. I can relate to that.

[jaye16]

I tried it knowing Duo would ding me but it's correct. I reported it.

[dexedge]

Yes, this is the actual idiom in English, and it still isn't accepted. If one gave Duolingo's answer when working as a professional translator, it would be a signe of incompetence.

[jpfxryan]

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

[alfanut]

Yes. Good idiomatic English. Should be accepted. I will report it.

[dkahn400]

Agreed, I will add my report more in hope than expectation.

[xyphax]

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26:41&version=NR1994

[Alastair17]

I was sure I heard this somewhere before.

[Lolologist]

Or heard it on Futurama!

[FollowerOfJesus7]

This is from the Bible:)

[siebolt]

We are speaking of persons > flesh and not meat.

[pont]

There is an old story (which I fear is far too good to be true) that this sentence was fed into an early English-to-Russian translation program. The result, literally translated back into English, was "the vodka is good but the meat is rotten"...

[kevmur]

I remember that one. Apparently they did the same with the saying "Out of sight, out of mind" and got back "Blind and stupid".

[Susanna35]

I remember a similar one - don't know what the language was, but it come back, "the whiskey is good but the meat is spoiled." Probably from the same source. It was in the early days of electronic translations. Of course, you can still get some real howlers.

[PazzaRN]

I read that in a particular Chinese translation “The Grapes of Wrath” was called “The Angry Raisins.”

[alfanut]

I LOVE IT! God bless computer translation programmes. Always good for a laugh. Have a lingot

[maddyis7]

My last sentence on 'the tree' - ...e adesso questo è il mio destino - 'The reverse tree.' :)

[Daiana-1602]

Aren't we all sinners in one way or the other? I want to lose some 5-7 kg and this sentence describes my personal attitude accurately ;)

[RussNitali51106]

Good quote.

[Maky9]

so can I say la carne can be used both for meat and flesh?

[Susanna35]

At the time the KJV was translated, "meat" would not have meant the same as "carne." It simply meant food, and if you meant "meat" as we think of it today, it would have to be "flesh" - so, yes, "la carne" can be used for both meat and flesh.

[Maky9]

Thank you Susanna

[leoniefw]

Oooh I like this one :)

[El.Emperador]

Amen!

[TheFinkie]

The spirit is strong... but the meat still tastes pretty weak.

[iamoiman]

Paraphrasing Futurama I see

[Tallman69]

I knew when I saw a unit titled, "Spiritual", people couldn't resist dragging their own dogma into the conversation. This is supposed to be a discussion about language pertaining to spirituality. Not spirituality, itself. There's a time and place for everything and this isn't either. I just don't understand this compulsion people have to tell others what they should and shouldn't believe. I'm here to study language, not Christian dogma.

[Tallman69]

Is this a set idiom in Italian? As mentioned, the English phrase is, "The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." It seems to me, a closer translation is, "Il spirito sta volendo, ma la carne è debole."
Of course, our English idiom is based off of the King James translation of the Bible. I wonder if the Italian translation uses, "forte"?