Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Grammatici certant et adhuc sub iudice lis est. - Grammarians dispute, and the case it still before the courts.
Of what use are laws, inoperative through public immortality? [Lat., Quid leges sine moribus Vanae proficiunt?]
Thou oughtest to know, since thou livest near the gods. [Lat., Scire, deos quoniam propius contingis, oportet.]
She - philosophy is equally helpful to the rich and poor: neglect her, and she equally harms the young and old.
The one who cannot restrain their anger will wish undone, what their temper and irritation prompted them to do.
Knowledge is the foundation and source of good writing. [Lat., Scibendi recte sapere est et principium et fons.]
What does drunkenness accomplish? It discloses secrets, it ratifies hopes, and urges even the unarmed to battle.
People hiss at me, but I applaud myself in my own house, and at the same time contemplate the money in my chest.
When I caution you against becoming a miser, I do not therefore advise you to become a prodigal or a spendthrift.
He who speaks ill of an absent friend, or fails to take his part if attacked by another, that man is a scoundrel.
Marble statues, engraved with public inscriptions, by which the life and soul return after death to noble leaders.
Let me posses what I now have, or even less, so that I may enjoy my remaining days, if Heaven grant any to remain.
Drive Nature out with a pitchfork, yet she hurries back, And will burst through your foolish contempt, triumphant.
Virtue consists in avoiding vice, and is the highest wisdom. [Lat., Virtus est vitium fugere, et sapientia prima.]
A mind that is charmed by false appearances refuses better things. [Lat., Acclinis falsis animus meliora recusat.]
Not to hope for things to last forever, is what the year teaches and even the hour which snatches a nice day away.
Caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt. (They change their sky, not their soul, who rush across the sea.)
One wanders to the left, another to the right. Both are equally in error, but, are seduced by different delusions.
In my youth I thought of writing a satire on mankind! but now in my age I think I should write an apology for them.
Poetry is like painting: one piece takes your fancy if you stand close to it, another if you keep at some distance.
We set up harsh and unkind rules against ourselves. No one is born without faults. That man is best who has fewest.
If the crow had been satisfied to eat his prey in silence, he would have had more meat and less quarreling and envy.
Not even piety will stay wrinkles, nor the encroachments of age, nor the advance of death, which cannot be resisted.
There is a medium in all things. There are certain limits beyond, or within which, that which is right cannot exist.
Man learns more readily and remembers more willingly what excites his ridicule than what deserves esteem and respect.
To marvel at nothing is just about the one and only thing, Numicius, that can make a man happy and keep him that way.
While we're talking, time will have meanly run on... pick today's fruits, not relying on the future in the slightest.
What odds does it make to the man who lives within Nature's bounds, whether he ploughs a hundred acres or a thousand?
Let not a god interfere unless where a god's assistance is necessary. [Adopt extreme measures only in extreme cases.]
The consummate pleasure (in eating) is not in the costly flavour, but in yourself. Do you seek for sauce for sweating?
Gold loves to make its way through guards, and breaks through barriers of stone more easily than the lightning's bolt.
Those unacquainted with the world take pleasure in intimacy with great men; those who are wiser fear the consequences.
One gains universal applause who mingles the useful with the agreeable, at once delighting and instructing the reader.
Fortune, delighting in her cruel task, and playing her wanton game untiringly, is ever shifting her uncertain favours.
Money is to be sought for first of all; virtue after wealth. [Lat., Quaerenda pecunia primum est; virtus post nummos.]
If you study the history and records of the world you must admit that the source of justice was the fear of injustice.
What we learn only through the ears makes less impression upon our minds than what is presented to the trustworthy eye.
A wise God shrouds the future in obscure darkness. [Lat., Prudens futuri temporis exitum Caliginosa nocte premit deus.]
Dare to begin! He who postpones living rightly is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.
Ye who write, choose a subject suited to your abilities. [Lat., Sumite materiam vestris, qui scribitis, aequam Viribus.]
Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque revenit. You can drive nature out with a pitchfork, she will nevertheless come back.
For a man learns more quickly and remembers more easily that which he laughs at, than that which he approves and reveres.
All singers have this fault: if asked to sing among friends they are never so inclined; if unasked, they never leave off.
You traverse the world in search of happiness which is within the reach of every man. A contented mind confers it on all.
Think to yourself that every day is your last; the hour to which you do not look forward will come as a welcome surprise.
You traverse the world in search of happiness, which is within the reach of every man. A contented mind confers it on all.
The lofty pine is most easily brought low by the force of the wind, and the higher the tower the greater the fall thereof.
And Tragedy should blush as much to stoop To the low mimic follies of a farce, As a grave matron would to dance with girls.
There is a measure in everything. There are fixed limits beyond which and short of which right cannot find a resting place.
Don't yield to that alluring witch, laziness, or else be prepared to surrender all that you have won in your better moments.