Rome: Ancient Quotes
"In civitate libéra linguam mentemque libéras esse debere"
(Gaius Svetonius Tranquillus, De Vita Caesarum, Tiberius 3,28)
"In a free state there should be freedom of speech and thought"
"Nihil est magnum somnianti"
(Cicero - De Divinatione , II 68)
"Nothing is great to a dreamer"
"Navigare necesse est ..."
(Plutarco - Pompeo life, 50)
"To sail is necessary ..."
Primum vivere, deinde philosophari
(Latin proverb)
"Live before you philosophize"
"Si pace frui volumus, bellum gerendum est"
(Cicero, I sec a.C. – Philippicae Orationes, VII)
"If we want to enjoy peace, we must wage war"
"Virtuti melius quam fortunae creditur"
(Publilius Syrus, Sententiase 855 - I B.C.)
"It's better trusting to valour than to luck"
"Cogas amantem irasci amari si velis"
(Publilio Syrus, I sec. A.C. - Sententiae)
"You must make a lover angry if you wish him to love"
"... quaedam tempora eripiuntur nobis, quaedam subducuntur, quaedam effluunt"
(Seneca)
"... certain moments are torn from us, that some are gently removed, and that others glide beyond our reach"
Haec colonia retroversus crescit tanquam coda vituli
(Petronius Arbiter, I sec. A.C., Satirycon, 44 – The economic crisis)
"This country grows backward like the tail of a calf"
"Probitas laudatur et alget"
(Juvenal – Satire, I, 74)
"Honesty is praised and is left out in the cold"
"Proximus ille deo est, qui scit ratione tacere"
(Cato - Disticha: I, 3, 2)
"He is nearest to God, who knows by reason to be silent"
"Gladiator in arena consilium capit"
(Publilius Syrus, Sententiase, 302 - I B.C.)
"The gladiator is making his plan in the arena (or too late)"
"In nihil sapiendo vita iucundissima est"
(Publilius Syrus, Sententiase, 363 - I B.C.)
"Life is joyful for those who ignore"
"Forma bonum fragile est"
(Ovid - Ars Amatoria II, 113)
"Beauty is a fragile good"
"Virtus est vitium fugere"
(Horace - Epistole I, 41)
"Virtue is in fleeing vice"
"Melius Nihil caelibe vita"
(Horace - Odi III,1-2)
"Nothing is better than the single life"
"Frontis nulla fides"
(Juvenal, – Satire, II, 8)
"Don't judge a book by its cover"
"Carente capite non opus est pileo"
(Double formula ancient Rome)
"If there is no head, there is no need hat"
"Honos alit artes"
(Cicero - Tuscolanae Disputationes I, 2, 4)
"Honor nourishes the arts"
"Verum amici officio ed fide pariuntur"
(Sallustii - Bellum Iugurthinum 10,2-3I)
"Friends are procured by acts of kidness and fidelity"
"Abusus non tollit usum"
(Double formula ancient Rome)
"Abuse does not take away use"
"Aut regem aut fatuum nasci oportere"
(Lucius Annaeus Seneca - Apocolocyntosis, I)
"One ought to be born a king or a fool"
"Amicitiae nostrae memoriam spero sempiternam fore"
(Cicero - Laelius de amicitia - 15)
"I hope that the memory of our friendship will be everlasting"
"Nihil est dictu facilius"
(Terence - Phormio, 300)
"Nothing is easier to say"
"Nomen est omen"
(Plautus)
"The name is a sign"
"In magnis et voluisse sat est"
(Propertius - Elegies II,10,6)
"In great things, it is enough even to have willed"
"Bella matribus detestata"
(Horace - Odi II, 1, 24)
"Mothers hates the war"
"In castrinum differo res severas"
(Cornelius Nepos Pelopidas III)
"I put off serious matters till tomorrow"
"Amicus magis necessarius quam ignis et aqua est"
(Cicero - Laelius De Amicitia 6,22)
"Friendship is more essential than fire and water"
"Difficiles nugae"
(Martial - The Epigrams II, 86)
"Difficult trifles"
"Mens sana in corpore sano"
(Juvenal – Satire, X, 356)
"A healthy mind in a healthy body"
"Faber est suae quisque fortunae"
(Sallustio, Appius Claudius Caecus - Epist. ad Caes., 2, 1)
"Every man is the artisan of his own fortune"
"Eiusdem Furfuris"
(Ancient double formula)
"It means of the same bran"
"Consuetudo concinnat amorem"
(Lucretius Carus - De Rerum Natura, liber IV, 1275)
"Habit produces love"
"A cane non magno saepe tenetur aper"
(Ovid - Remedia Amoris, 422)
"The wild board is often caught by a small dog"
"Bovi clitellas imponere"
(Cicero - De finibus 2, 28, 90)
"Put the packsaddle upon an ox"
"De minimis granis fit magnus acervus"
(Double formula ancient Rome)
"From the smallest grains comes a big heap"
"Nullius boni sine socio iucunda possessio est"
(Seneca - Epistolae morales 6,14)
"No good thing is pleasant to possess, without friends to share it"
"Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges"
(Tacitus - Annales lib. III, 227)
"In the most corrupt state are the most laws"
"Nulli tacuisse nocet, nocet esse locutum"
(Cato - Disticha: I, 12, 2)
"No harm comes from remaining silent, harm comes from speaking"
"Metus ac terror sunt infirma vincla caritatis"
(Tacitus - De Vita et Moribus Iulii Agricolae, 32)
"Fear and terror are weak links of friendship"
"Adulter est uxoris amator acrior"
(Publilius Syrus, Sententiase, 10 - I B.C.)
"Passionate love of a man’s own wife is adultery"
"Fortunae invidiae est inmeritus miser"
(Ausonius - Septem Sapientum Sententiae)
"A just man suffering wrongfully is Fortune's indictment"
"Olim meminisse iuvabit"
(Virgil , Aeneid I, 203)
"It will be pleasing to have remembered these things one day"
"Ratio terroris prudentibus excudit"
(Seneca - Naturales questiones,6,2,1,9)
"The reason dispels fears of sensible people"
"Canis timidus vehementius latrat quam mordet"
(Curzio Rufo - De Rebus Gestis Alexandri MagniI, 7, 4,13)
"A timid dog barks more violently than it bites"
"Alterius non sit qui suus esse potest"
(Fedro)
"Let no man belong to another who can belong to himself"
"Vita perit, mortis gloria non moritur"
(Ausonius - Septem Sapientum Sententiae: Anacharsis Scythes)
"Life may perish, but the glory of death dieth not."
"Amor ingenii neminem unquam divitem fecit"
(Petronius Arbiter - Satirycon, 83)
"The love of creative genius never made anyone rich"
"Sermo datur cunctis, animi sapientia paucis"
(Cato - Disticha: I, 10, 2)
"The word that is given to all, wisdom of the soul in a few words"
"Fallacia alia aliam trudit"
(Publius Terentius - Andria IV, 4, 39-40)
"One deception brings another"
"Poeta nascitur, orator fit"
(Double formula ancient Rome)
"The poet is born, the orator is made"
"Verae amicitiae sempiternae sunt"
(Cicero - De Amicitia 29, 32)
"A true friend is forever a friend"
"Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur"
(Quinto Ennio - Hecuba)
"A true friend is certain when certainty is uncertain"
"Veritas filia temporis"
(Aulus Gellius - Noctes Atticae lib. XII cap 11, 7)
"Truth the daughter of Time"
"Corruptio optimi pexima"
(St. Gregory the Great)
"The corruption of the best is the worst of all"
"Agnosco veteris vestigia flammae"
(Virgil, Eneide IV, 23)
"I feel once more the scars of the old flame"
"Vana sine viribus ira est"
(Livius - Ab urbe condita I, 10 4)
"Anger can not stand, Without a strong hand"
"Summa petit livor"
(Ovid - Remedia amoris – I, 369)
"Envy aims very high"
"Deus nobis haec otia fecit"
(Virgil, Ecloghe I, 6)
"God has given us this tranquility (The praise of a country-life)"
"Non omnia possumus omnes"
(Virgil - Bucoliche VIII, 63)
"We can't all (do) all things"