the variant, Esse potius quam videri with the same meaning. The U. S. Consortium of Metropolitan Medical Directors (Eagles). The Pan Hellenic Society of Silliman University, Philippines. In the 2017 film Only the Brave, the saying is stated to be the motto of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. The phrase is the motto of the Eric Marsh Foundation for Wildland Firefighters. Royal Charter Popular culture Television personality Stephen Colbert inverted the statement on his show The Colbert Report to Videri Quam Esse, meaning "to seem to be rather than to be." It is also engraved across the faux hearth, above the video fireplace, in his studio, under his portrait. The funk metal band Mordred features a song called Esse quam videri on their 1991 album In This life. In the novel The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Esse quam videri is a motto of the Bowen family. In the novel Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth, Esse quam videri is the motto of the defunct boarding school Brookhants. References External link Latin mottos Symbols of North Carolina State mottos of the United States