Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
They come to see, they come that they themselves may be seen. [Lat., Spectatum veniunt, veniunt spectentur ut ipse.]
She only is chaste, who is chaste where there is no danger of detection: she who does not, because she may not, does.
Riches too increase, and the maddening craving for gold, So that men ever seek for more, that they may have the most.
Virtue and vice, evil and good, are siblings, or next-door neighbors, Easy to make mistakes, hard to tell them apart.
He who has it in his power to commit sin, is less inclined to do so. The very idea of being able, weakens the desire.
I hate a woman who offers herself because she ought to do so, and cold and dry thinks of her sewing when making love.
It is but a small merit to observe silence, but it is a grave fault to speak of matters on which we should be silent.
A wound will perhaps become tolerable with length of time; but wounds which are raw shudder at the touch of the hands.
What is more useful than fire? Yet if any one prepares to burn a house, it is with fire that he arms his daring hands.
Perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim. Have patience and endure; this unhappiness will one day be beneficial.
Sleep, rest of things, O pleasing Deity, Peace of the soul, which cares dost crucify, Weary bodies refresh and mollify.
Seeking is all very well, but holding requires greater talent: Seeking involves some luck; now the demand is for skill.
What is harder than stone? What more soft than water? Nevertheless hard though the rock be, it is hollowed by the wave.
Man's last day must ever be awaited and none to be counted happy until his death, until his last funeral rites are paid.
Take the advice of light when you're looking at linens or jewels; Looking at faces or forms, take the advice of the day.
The swallow is not ensnared by men because of its gentle nature. [Lat., At caret insidiis hominum, quia mitis, hirundo.]
It is no less a feat to keep what you have, than to increase it. In one there is chance, the other will be a work of art.
To be thoroughly imbued, with the liberal arts refines the manners, and makes men to be mild and gentle in their conduct.
Women's words are as light as the doomed leaves whirling in autumn, Easily swept by the wind, easily drowned by the wave.
For in this strange anatomy we wear, the head has greater powers than the hand; the spirit, heart, and mind are over all.
Here Jove with Hermes came; but in disguise Of mortal men conceal'd their deities; One laid aside his thunder, one his rod
Haste is productive of injury, and so is too much hesitation. He is the wisest man who does everything at the proper time.
It is hope which makes the shipwrecked sailor strike out with his arms in the midst of the sea, though no land is in sight.
Heavens! what thick darkness pervades the minds of men. [Lat., Pro superi! quantum mortalia pectora caecae, Noctis habent.]
As many as the shells that are on the shore, so many are the pains of love; the darts that wound are steeped in much poison.
Why should I go into details, we have nothing that is not perishable except what our hearts and our intellects endows us with.
I attempt a difficult work; but there is no excellence without difficulty. [Lat., Ardua molimur; sed nulla nisi ardua virtus.]
Death is not grievous to me, for I shall lay aside my pains by death. [Lat., Nec mihi mors gravis est posituro morte dolores.]
The high-spirited man may indeed die, but he will not stoop to meanness. Fire, though it may be quenched, will not become cool.
What is lawful is undesirable; what is unlawful is very attractive. [Lat., Quod licet est ingratum quod non licet acrius urit.]
All-devouring time, envious age, Nought can escape you, and by slow degrees, Worn by your teeth, all things will lingering die.
There is nothing constant in the universe. All ebb and flow, and every shape that's born, bears in its womb the seeds of change.
The sea's vast depths lie open to the fish; Wherever the breezes blow the bird may fly; So to the brave man every land's a home.
First try all other means, but if the wound Heal not, then use the knife, lest to the clean From the diseased the canker spread.
Either you pursue or push, O Sisyphus, the stone destined to keep rolling. [Lat., Aut petis aut urgues ruiturum, Sisyphe, saxum.]
If you would conquer Love, he must be fought At his first onslaught; sprinkle but a drop Of water, the new-kindled flame expires.
Envy, slothful vice, Never makes its way in lofty characters, But, like the skulking viper, creeps and crawls Close to the ground.
As the mind of each man is conscious of good or evil, so does he conceive within his breast hope or fear, according to his actions.
By constant dripping, water hollows stone, A signet-ring from use alone grows thin, And the curved plowshare by soft earth is worn.
I am above being injured by fortune, though she steals away much, more will remain with me. The blessing I now enjoy transcend fear.
Venus is kind to creatures as young as we;We know not what we do, and while we're youngWe have the right to live and love like gods.
Thou beginnest better than thou endest. The last is inferior to the first. [Lat., Coepisti melius quam desinis. Ultima primis cedunt.]
Wind feeds the fire, and wind extinguishes: The flames are nourished by a gentle breeze, Yet, if it stronger grows, they sink and die.
Nothing aids which may not also injure us. Fire serves us well, but he who plots to burn His neighbor's roof arms his hands with fire.
Opportunity is ever worth expecting; let your hood be ever hanging ready. The fish will be in the pool where you least imagine it to be.
Eurydice, dying now a second time, uttered no complaint against her husband. What was there to complain of, but that she had been loved?
Those gifts are ever the most acceptable which the giver makes precious. [Lat., Acceptissima semper munera sunt auctor quae pretiosa facit.]
Alluring pleasure is said to have softened the savage dispositions (of early mankind). [Lat., Blanda truces animos fertur mollisse voluptas.]
All other creatures look down toward the earth, but man was given a face so that might turn his eyes toward the stars and his gaze upon the sky.
The most wretched fortune is safe; for there is no fear of anything worse. [Lat., Fortuna miserrima tuta est: Nam timor eventus deterioris abest.]