James Wood, comp. Dictionary of Quotations. 1899.
Horace
Abnormis sapiens—Wise without learning.
Accipe nunc, victus tenuis quid quantaque secum afferat. In primis valeas bene—Now learn what and how great benefits a moderate diet brings with it. Before all, you will enjoy good health.
Acclinis falsis animus meliora recusat—The mind attracted by what is false has no relish for better things.
Adsit regula, peccatis quæ pœnas irroget æquas—Have a rule apportioning to each offence its appropriate penalty.
Ægri somnia vana—The delusive dreams of a sick man.
Æquâ lege necessitas / Sortitur insignes et imos—Necessity apportions impartially to high and low alike.
Æqua tellus / Pauperi recluditur / Regumque pueris—The impartial earth opens alike for the child of the pauper and of the king.
Æquam memento rebus in arduis / Servare mentem, non secus in bonis / Ab insolenti temperatam / Lætitiâ—Be sure to preserve an unruffled mind in adversity, as well as one restrained from immoderate joy in prosperity.
Æquum est / Peccatis veniam poscentem reddere rursus—It is fair that he who begs to be forgiven should in turn forgive.
Ære perennius—More enduring than brass.
Aliena negotia centum / Per caput, et circa saliunt latus—A hundred affairs of other people leap through my head and at my side.
Aliena negotia curo / Excussus propriis—I attend to other people’s affairs, baffled with my own.
Aliena opprobria sæpe / Absterrent vitiis—We are often deterred from crime by the disgrace of others.
Aliquando bonus dormitat Homerus—Sometimes even the good Homer nods.
Amabilis insania—A fine frenzy.
Amoto quæramus seria ludo—Jesting aside, let us give attention to serious business.
Amphora cœpit / Institui: currente rota cur urceus exit?—A vase was begun; why from the revolving wheel does it turn out a worthless pitcher?
Animum rege, qui nisi paret imperat—Rule your spirit well, for if it is not subject to you, it will lord it over you.
Aperit præcordia liber—Wine opens the seal of the heart.
Argilla quidvis imitaberis uda—You may model any form you please out of damp clay.
At ingenium ingens / Inculto latet hoc sub corpore—Yet under this rude exterior lies concealed a mighty genius.
Atqui vultus erat multa et præclara minantis—And yet you had the look of one that promised (lit. threatened) many fine things.
Audax omnia perpeti / Gens humana ruit per vetitum et nefas—Daring to face all hardships, the human race dashes through every human and divine restraint.
Aut insanit homo, aut versus facit—The man is either mad, or he is making verses.
Aut prodesse volunt aut delectare poetæ—Poets wish either to profit or to please.
Aut virtus nomen inane est, / Aut decus et pretium recte petit experiens vir—Either virtue is an empty name, or the man of enterprise justly aims at honour and reward.
Bœotum in crasso jurares aëre natum—You would swear he was born in the foggy atmosphere of the Bœotians.
Beatus ille qui procul negotiis, / Ut prisca gens mortalium, / Paterna rura bobus exercet suis, / Solutus omni fœnore—Happy the man who, remote from busy life, is content, like the primitive race of mortals, to plough his paternal lands with his own oxen, freed from all borrowing and lending.
Bella matronis detestata—Wars detested by mothers.
Bene est cui Deus obtulit / Parca quod satis est manu—Well for him to whom God has given enough with a sparing hand.
Bene nummatum decorat Suedela Venusque—The goddesses of persuasion and of love adorn the train of the well-moneyed man.
Bonus atque fidus / Judex honestum prætulit utili—A good and faithful judge ever prefers the honourable to the expedient.
Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio—When labouring to be concise, I become obscure.
Cœlum ipsum petimus stultitia—We assail heaven itself in our folly.
Cœlum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt—Those who cross the sea change only the climate, not their character.
Callida junctura—Skilful arrangement.
Capitis nives—The snowy locks of the head.
Carmine di superi placantur, carmine Manes—The gods above and the gods below are alike propitiated by song.
Carpe diem—Make a good use of the present.
Castor gaudet equis, ovo prognatus eodem / Pugnis—Castor delights in horses; he that sprung from the same egg, in boxing.
Cautus enim metuit foveam lupus, accipiterque / Suspectos laqueos, et opertum miluus hamum—For the wary wolf dreads the pitfall, the hawk the suspected snare, and the fish the concealed hook.
Celsæ graviore casu / Decidunt turres—Lofty towers fall with no ordinary crash.
Cereus in vitium flecti, monitoribus asper—(Youth), pliable as wax to vice, obstinate under reproof.
Citharœdus / Ridetur chorda qui semper obberrat eadem—The harper who is always at fault on the same string is derided.
Compesce mentem—Restrain thy irritation.
Corpus sine pectore—A body without a soul.
Credat Judæus Apella—Apella, the Jew, may believe that; I cannot.
Crescentem sequitur cura pecuniam, / Majorumque fames—Care accompanies increasing wealth, and a craving for still greater riches.
Cresctt occulto velut arbor ævo—It grows as a tree with a hidden life.
Cressa ne careat pulchra dies nota—Let not a day so fair be without its white mark.
Creta an carbone notandi?—Are they to be marked with chalk or charcoal?
Cui lecta potenter erit res / Nec facundia deseret hunc nec lucidus ordo—He who has chosen a theme suited to his powers will never be at a loss for felicitous language or lucid arrangement.
Cui mens divinior atque os / Magna sonaturum des nominis hujus honorem—To him whose soul is more than ordinarily divine, and who has the gift of uttering lofty thoughts, you may justly concede the honourable title of poet.
Cui non conveniat sua res, ut calcens olim, / Si pede major erit, subvertet, si minor, uret—As a shoe, when too large, is apt to trip one, and when too small, to pinch the feet; so is it with him whose fortune does not suit him.
Cui placet alterius, sua nimirum est odio sors—When a man envies another’s lot, it is natural he should be discontented with his own.
Culpam pœna premit comes—Punishment follows hard upon crime as an attendant.
Damnosa quid non imminuit dies?—What is there that corroding time does not impair?
Dapes inemptæ—Dainties unbought, i.e., home produce.
Dapibus supremi / Grata testudo Jovis—The shell (lyre) a welcome accompaniment at the banquets of sovereign Jove.
De paupertate tacentes / Plus poscente ferent—Those who say nothing of their poverty fare better than those who beg.
Decies repetita placebit—Ten times repeated, it will still please.
Decipimur specie recti—We are deceived by the semblance of rectitude.
Delectando pariterque monendo—By pleasing as well as instructing.
Delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi—Whatsoever devilry kings do, the Greeks must pay the piper.
Delphinum sylvis appingit, fluctibus aprum—He paints a porpoise in the woods, a boar amidst the waves.
Denique non omnes eadem mirantur amantque—All men do not admire and love the same things.
Desiderantem quod satis est, neque / Tumultuosum sollicitat mare, / Non verberatæ grandine vineæ / Fundusque mendax—A storm at sea, a vine-wasting hail tempest, a disappointing farm, cause no anxiety to him who is content with enough.
Desinit in piscem mulier formosa superne—A beautiful woman in the upper parts terminating in a fish.
Deus hæc fortasse benigna / Reducet in sedem vice—God will perhaps by a gracious change restore these things to a stable condition.
Dextro tempore—At a lucky moment.
Di bene fecerunt, inopis me quodque pusilli / Finxerunt animi, raro et perpauca loquentis—The gods be praised for having made me of a poor and humble mind, with a desire to speak but seldom and briefly.
Dicam insigne, recens, adhuc / Indictum ore alio—I will utter something striking, something fresh, something as yet unsung by another’s lips.
Dicenda tacenda locutus—Saying things that should be, and things that should not be, said.
Dicta tibi est lex—The conditions have been laid before you.
Difficile est proprie communia dicere—It is difficult to handle a common theme with originality.
Diffugiunt, cadis / Cum fæce siccatis, amici, / Ferre jugum pariter dolosi—When the wine-casks are drained to the lees, our friends soon disperse, too faithless to bear as well the yoke of misfortune.
Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori—The Muse takes care that the man who is worthy of honour does not die.
Dimidium facti, qui cœpit, habet—He who has begun has half done.
Dira necessitas—Cruel necessity.
Diruit, ædificat, mutat quadrata rotundis—He pulls down, he builds up, he changes square into round.
Discit enim citius, meminitque libentius illud / Quod quis deridet quam quod probat et veneratur—Each learns more readily, and retains more willingly, what makes him laugh than what he approves of and respects.
Disjecti membra poetæ—Limbs of the dismembered poet.
Dives agris, dives positis in fœnore nummis—Rich in lands, rich in money laid out at interest.
Doctrina sed vim promovet insitam / Rectique cultus pectora roborant—But instruction improves the innate powers, and good discipline strengthens the heart.
Dona præsentis cape lætus horæ, et / Linque severa—Gladly enjoy the gifts of the present hour, and banish serious thoughts.
Dos est magna parentum / Virtus—The virtue of parents is a great dowry.
Ducis ingenium, res / Adversæ nudare solent, celare secundæ—Disasters are wont to reveal the abilities of a general, good fortune to conceal them.
Dulce est desipere in loco—It is pleasant to play the fool (i.e., relax) sometimes.
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori—It is sweet and glorious to die for one’s country.
Dulcis inexpertis cultura potentis amici; / Expertus metuit—The cultivation of friendship with the great is pleasant to the inexperienced, but he who has experienced it dreads it.
Dum vitant stulti vitia, in contraria currunt—While fools shun one set of faults, they run into the opposite one.
Durum! Sed levius fit patientia / Quicquid corrigere est nefas—’Tis hard! But that which we are not permitted to correct is rendered lighter by patience.
Ego nec studium sine divite vena, / Nec rude quid prosit video ingenium—I see not what good can come from study without a rich vein of genius, or from genius untrained by art.
Egregii mortalem, altique silenti—A being of extraordinary and profound silence.
Eheu! fugaces, Posthume, Posthume, / Labuntur anni, nec pietas moram / Rugis et instanti senectæ / Afferet, indomitæque morti—Alas! Posthumus, our years glide fleetly away, nor can piety stay wrinkles and advancing age and unvanquished death.
Emunctæ naris—Of nice discernment (lit. scent).
Eques ipso melior Bellerophonte—A letter horseman than Bellerophon himself.
Equo frænato est auris in ore—The ear of the bridled horse is in the mouth.
Eripe te moræ—Tear thyself from all that detains thee.
Eripe turpi / Colla jugo. Liber, liber sum, dic age—Tear away thy neck from the base yoke. Come, say, I am free; I am free.
Est animus tibi / Rerumque prudens, et secundis / Temporibus dubiisque rectus—You possess a mind both sagacious in the management of affairs, and steady at once in prosperous and perilous times.
Est animus tibi, sunt mores et lingua, fidesque—Thou hast a man’s soul, cultured manners and power of expression, and fidelity.Of a gentleman.
Est bonus, ut melior vir / Non alius quisquam—He is so good that no man can be better.
Est brevitate opus, ut currat sententia—There is need of conciseness that the thought may run on.
Est hic, / Est ubivis, animus si te non deficit æquus—It (happiness) is here, it is everywhere, if only a well-regulated mind does not fail you.
Est modus in rebus; sunt certi denique fines, / Quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum—There is a mean in all things; there are, in fine, certain fixed limits, on either side of which what is right and true cannot exist.
Est quadam prodire tenus, si non datur ultra—You may advance to a certain point, if it is not permitted you to go farther.
Et genus et formam regina pecunia donat—Money, like a queen, confers both rank and beauty.
Et genus et virtus, nisi cum re, vilior alga est—Without money both birth and virtue are as worthless as seaweed.
Et male tornatos incudi reddere versus—And take back ill-polished stanzas to the anvil.
Et mihi res, non me rebus, subjungere conor—My aim ever is to subject circumstances to myself, not myself to them.
Et nova fictaque nuper habebunt verba fidem, si / Græco fonte cadunt parce detorta—And new and lately invented terms will be well received, if they descend, with slight deviation, from a Grecian source.
Et semel emissum volat irrevocabile verbum—And a word once uttered flies abroad never to be recalled.
Exegi monumentum ære perennius—I have reared a memorial of myself more durable than brass.
Exitio est avidium mare nautis—The greedy sea is destruction to the sailors.
Expertus metuit—He who has had experience is afraid.
Extinctus amabilis idem—He will be beloved when he is dead (who was envied when he was living).
Fœnum habet in cornu, longe fuge, dummodo risum / Excutiat sibi, non hic cuiquam parcit amico—He has (like a wild bull) a wisp of hay on his horn: fly afar from him; if only he raise a laugh for himself, there is no friend he would spare.
Fallentis semita vitæ—The pathway of deceptive or unnoticed life.
Falsus honor juvat, et mendax infamia terret / Quem nisi mendosum et medicandum—Undeserved honour delights, and lying calumny alarms no one but him who is full of falsehood and needs to be reformed.
Fecundi calices quem non fecere disertum?—Whom have not flowing cups made eloquent?
Felices ter et amplius / Quos irrupta tenet copula, nec, malis / Divulsus quærimoniis, / Suprema citius solvet amor die—Thrice happy they, and more than thrice, whom an unbroken link binds together, and whom love, unimpaired by evil rancour, will not sunder before their last day.
Ficta voluptatis causa sit proxima veris—Fictions meant to please should have as much resemblance as possible to truth.
Fidelity is the sister of justice.
Flebit, et insignis tota cantabitur urbe—He shall rue it, and be a marked man and the talk of the whole town.
For poems to have beauty of style is not enough; they must have pathos also, and lead at will the hearer’s soul.
Fortes creantur fortibus et bonis; / Est in juvencis, est in equis patrum / Virtus, nec imbellem feroces / Progenerant aquilæ columbam—Brave men are generated by brave and good: there is in steers and in horses the virtue of their sires, nor does the fierce eagle beget the unwarlike dove.
Fortunæ filius—A child or favourite of fortune.
Fortuna non mutat genus—Fortune does not change nature.
Fragili quærens illidere dentem / Offendet solido—Trying to fix her tooth in some tender part, / Envy will strike against the solid.
Fruges consumere nati—Born merely to consume the fruits of the earth.
Frustra vitium vitaveris illud, / Si te alio pravus detorseris—In vain do you avoid one fault if you perversely turn aside into another.
Fuge magna; licet sub paupere tecto / Reges et regum vita præcurrere amicos—Shun grandeur; under a poor roof you may surpass even kings and the friends of kings in your life.
Fugit improbus, ac me / Sub cultro linquit—The wag runs away and leaves me with the knife at my throat, i.e., to be sacrificed.
Fuit hæc sapientia quondam, / Publica privatis secernere, sacra profanis, / Concubitu prohibere vago, dare jura maritis, / Oppida moliri, leges incidere ligno—This of old was accounted wisdom, to separate public from private property, things sacred from profane, to restrain from vagrant concubinage, to ordain laws for married people, to build cities, to engrave laws on tablets.
Fulgente trahit constrictos gloria curru, / Non minus ignotos generosis—Glory draws all bound to her shining car, low-born and high-born alike.
Fungar vice cotis, acutum / Reddere quæ ferrum valet, exsors ipsa secandi—I will discharge the office of a whetstone, which can give an edge to iron, though it cannot cut itself.
Garrit aniles / Ex re fabellas—He relates old women’s tales very apropos.
Gaudent prænomine molles / Auriculæ—His delicate ears are delighted with a title.
Gaudet equis, canibusque, et aprici gramine campi—He delights in horses, and dogs, and the grass of the sunny plain.
Græcia capta ferum victorem cepit, et artes / Intulit agresti Latio—Greece, conquered herself, in turn conquered her uncivilised conqueror, and imported her arts into rusticated Latium.
Grata superveniet quæ non sperabitur hora—The hour of happiness will come the more welcome when it is not expected.
Grave virus / Munditiæ pepulere—More elegant manners expelled this offensive style.
Hæ nugæ seria ducent / In mala—These trifles will lead to serious mischief.
Hæc a te non multum abludit imago—This picture bears no small resemblance to yourself.
Hæc amat obscurum; volet hæc sub luce videri, / Judicis argutum quæ non formidat acumen; Hæc placuit semel; hæc decies repetita placebit—One (poem) courts the shade; another, not afraid of the critic’s keen eye, chooses to be seen in a strong light; the one pleases but once, the other will still please if ten times repeated.
Hæc ego mecum / Compressis agito labris; ubi quid datur oti, / Illudo chartis—These things I revolve by myself with compressed lips. When I have any leisure, I amuse myself with my writings.
Hæc est condicio vivendi, aiebat, eoque / Responsura tuo nunquam est par fama labori—“Such is the lot of life,” he said, “and so your merits will never receive their due meed of praise.”
Habent sua fata libelli—Books have their destinies.
Hac urget lupus, hac canis—On one side a wolf besets you, on the other a dog.
Hanc veniam petimusque damusque vicissim—We both expect this privilege, and give it in return.
Haud ignara ac non incauta futuri—Neither ignorant nor inconsiderate of the future.
Hic dies, vere mihi festus, atras / Eximet curas—This day, for me a true holiday, shall banish gloomy cares.
Hic est aut nusquam quod quærimus—Here or else nowhere is what we are aiming at.
Hic murus aheneus esto, / Nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa—Be this our wall of brass, to be conscious of no guilt, to turn pale at no charge brought against us.
Hic niger est; nunc tu, Romane, caveto—This fellow is black; have a care of him, Roman.
Hic nigræ succus loliginis, hæc est / Ærugo mera—This is the very venom of dark detraction; this is pure malignity.
Hinc omne principium, huc refer exitum—To them (the gods) ascribe every undertaking, to them the issue.
Hoc erat in votis; modus agri non ita magnus; / Hortus ubi, et tecto vicinus juris aquæ fons, / Et paulum silvæ super his foret—This was ever my chief prayer: a piece of ground not too large, with a garden, and a spring of never-failing water near my house, and a little woodland besides.
Hoc fonte derivata clades, / In patriam, populumque fluxit—From this source the disaster flowed that has overwhelmed the nation and the people.
Horæ / Momento cita mors venit, aut victoria læta—In a moment of time comes sudden death or joyful victory.
Huc propius me, / Dum doceo insanire omnes, vos ordine adite—Come near me all in order, and I will convince you that you are mad, every one.
I secundo omine—Go, and may all good go with you.
Ibit eo quo vis, qui zonam perdidit—He who has lost his purse (lit. girdle) will go wherever you wish.
Ignem gladio scrutare modo—Only stir the fire with a sword!
Iliacos intra muros peccatur et extra—Sin is committed as well within the walls of Troy as without, i.e., both sides were to blame.
Ille per extentum funem mihi posse videtur / Ire poeta, meum qui pectus inaniter angit / Irritat mulcet falsis terro ibus implet / Ut magus: et modo me Thebis, modo ponit Athenis—That man seems to me able to do anything (lit. walk on the tight-rope) who, as a poet, tortures my breast with fictions, can rouse me, then soothe me, fill me with unreal terrors like a magician, set me down either at Thebes or Athens.
Ille potens sui / Lætusque degit, cui licet in diem / Dixisse, Vixi: cras vel atra / Nube polum pater occupato / Vel sole puro—The man lives master of himself and cheerful, who can say day after day, “I have lived; to-morrow let the Father above overspread the sky either with cloud or with clear sunshine.”
Ille sinistrorsum, hic dextrorsum, abit: unus utrique / Error, sed variis illudit partibus—One wanders to the left, another to the right; both are equally in error, but are seduced by different delusions.
Ille terrarum mihi præter omnes / Angulus ridet—That nook of the world has charms for me before all else.
Illi robur et æs triplex / Circa pectus erat, qui fragilem truci / Commisit pelago ratem / Primus—That man had oak and triple brass around his breast who first intrusted his frail bark to the savage sea.
Immoritur studiis, et amore senescit habendi—He is killing himself with his efforts, and in his greed of gain is becoming an old man.
Immortalia ne speres monet annus, et almum / Quæ rapit hora diem—The year in its course, and the hour that speeds the kindly day, admonishes you not to hope for immortal (i.e., permanent) blessings.
Impavidum ruinæ fertent—The wreck of things will strike him unmoved.
Imperat aut servit collecta pecunia cuique—Money amassed is either our slave or our tyrant.
Improbæ / Crescunt divitiæ, tamen / Curtæ nescio quid semper abest rei—Riches increase to an enormous extent, yet something is ever wanting our still imperfect fortune.
In beato omnia beata—With the fortunate everything is fortunate.
In cute curanda plus æquo operata juventus—Youth unduly busy with pampering the outer man.
In seipso totus, teres, atque rotundus—Perfect in himself, polished, and rounded.
In vitium ducit culpæ fuga—In flying from one vice we are sometimes led into another.
Incedis per ignes / Suppositos cineri doloso—You are treading on fire overlaid by treacherous ashes.
Inceptis gravibus plerumque et magna professis, / Purpureas, late qui splendeat, unus et alter / Adsuitur pannus—Oftentimes to lofty beginnings and such as promise great things, one or two purple patches are stitched on in order to make a brilliant display.
Incudi reddere—To return to the anvil, i.e., to improve or recast.
Indocilis pauperiem pati—One that cannot learn to bear poverty.
Ingenium ingens / Inculto latet hoc sub corpore—A great intellect lies concealed under that uncouth exterior.
Ingenium res adversæ nudare solent, celare secundæ—As a rule, adversity reveals genius, and prosperity conceals it.
Insani sapiens nomen ferat, æquus iniqui, / Ultra quod satis est virtutem si petat ipsam—Let the wise man bear the name of fool, and the just of unjust, if he pursue Virtue herself beyond the proper bounds.
Insanire parat certa ratione modoque—He is preparing to act the madman with a certain degree of reason and method.
Integer vitæ scelerisque purus / Non eget Mauris jaculis neque arcu—The man of upright life and free from crime has no need of Moorish javelin or bow.
Inter spem curamque, timores inter et iras, / Omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum: / Grata superveniet quæ non sperabitur hora—In the midst of hope and care, in the midst of fears and passions, believe each day that dawns on you is your last; welcome will steal upon you the hour that is not hoped for.
Inter sylvas Academi quærere verum—Amid the woods of Academus to seek for truth.
Interdum vulgus rectum videt, est ubi peccat—Sometimes the common people judge aright; at other times they err.
Invidus alterius macrescit rebus opimis—The envious man grows lean at the prosperity of another.
Invidus, iracundus, iners, vinosus, amator, / Nemo adeo ferus est, ut non mitescere possit, / Si modo culturæ patientem commodet aurem—The envious, the passionate, the indolent, the drunken, the lewd—none is so savage that he cannot be tamed, if he only lend a patient ear to culture.
Invitum qui servat idem facit occidenti—He who saves a man against his will, does the same as if he killed him.
Ira furor brevis est; animum rege, qui, nisi paret, / Imperat: hunc frenis, nunc tu compesce catena—Anger is a short-lived madness; control thy temper, for unless it obeys, it commands thee; restrain it with bit and chain.
Ire tamen restat, Numa quo devenit et Ancus—It still remains for you to go where Numa has gone, and Ancus before you.
Irremeabilis unda—The river there is no re-crossing; the styx.
Jam nunc minaci murmure cornuum / Perstringis aures; jam litui strepunt—Even now you stun our ears with the threatening murmur of horns; already I hear the clarions sound.
Jam pauca aratro jugera regiæ / Moles relinquent—Soon will regal piles leave but few acres to the plough.
Jejunus raro stomachus vulgaria temnit—The hungry stomach rarely scorns plain fare.
Jucunda et idonea dicere vitæ—To describe what is pleasant and suited for life.
Judicium subtile videndis artibus—A judgment nice in discriminating works of art.
Junctæque Nymphis Gratiæ decentes—The beauteous Graces linked hand in hand with the nymphs.
Jura negat sibi nata, nihil non arrogat armis—He says that laws were not framed for him; he claims everything by force of arms.
Justum et tenacem propositi virum, / Non civium ardor prava jubentium, / Non vultus instantis tyranni / Mente quatit solida—Not the rage of the citizens commanding wrongful measures, not the aspect of the threatening tyrant, can shake from his firm purpose the man who is just and resolute.
Justus propositi tenax—A just man steadfast to his purpose.
Knowledge without education is but armed injustice.
Lætus in præsens animus, quod ultra est / Oderit curare, et amara lento / Temperet risu. Nihil est ab omni / Parte beatum—The mind that is cheerfully contented with the present will shrink from caring about anything beyond, and will temper the bitters of life with an easy smile. There is nothing that is blessed in every respect.
Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis ævum—The stream flows, and will go on flowing for ever.
Laborum dulce lenimen—The sweet soother of my toils.To his lyre.
Lactuca innatat acri / Post vinum stomacho—Lettuce after wine floats on the acrid stomach.
Lascivi soboles gregis—The offspring of a wanton herd.
Latius regnes, avidum domando / Spiritum, quam si Libyam remotis / Gadibus jungas, et uterque Pœnus / Serviat uni—By subduing an avaricious spirit you will rule a wider empire than if you united Lybia to the far-off Gades, and the Carthaginian on both shores should be subject to you alone.
Laudat venales qui vult extrudere merces—He praises his wares who wishes to palm them off upon others.
Laudator temporis acti—The praiser of bygone times.
Laudatur ab his, culpatur ab illis—Some praise him, others censure him.
Laudibus arguitur vini vinosus—He is convicted of being a wine-bibber by his praises of wine.
Laudo manentem; si celeres quatit / Pennas, resigno quæ dedit, et mea / Virtute me involvo probamque / Pauperiem sine dote quæro—I praise her (Fortune) while she stays with me; if she flaps her swift pinions, I resign all she has given me, and wrap myself up in my own virtue and pay my addresses to honest undowered poverty.
Lavish promises lessen credit.
Lenior et melior fis, accedente senecta—You become milder and better as old age advances.
Let your literary compositions be kept from the public eye for nine years at least.
Levius fit patientia / Quicquid corrigere est nefas—Whatever cannot be amended becomes easier to bear if we exercise patience.
Liceat concedere veris—We are free to yield to truth.
Licet superbus ambules pecunia, / Fortuna non mutat genus—Although you strut insolent in your wealth, your fortune does not change your low birth.
Limæ labor et mora—The labour and tediousness of polishing as with a file.
Linquenda tellus, et domus, et placens / Uxor, neque harum, quas colis, arborum, / Te, præter invisas cupressos, / Ulla brevem dominum sequetur—Your estate, your home, and your pleasing wife must be left, and of these trees which you are rearing, not one shall follow you, their short-lived owner, except the hateful cypresses.
Locus est et pluribus umbris—There is room for more introductions.
Longe mea discrepat istis / Et vox et ratio—Both my language and my sentiments differ widely from theirs.
Luctantem Icariis fluctibus Africum / Mercator metuens, otium et oppidi / Laudat rura sui: mox reficit rates / Quassas, indocilis pauperiem pati—The merchant, dreading the southwest wind wrestling with the Icarian waves, praises retirement and the rural life of his native town, but soon he repairs his shattered bark, incapable of being taught to endure poverty.
Lusisti satis, edisti satis, atque bibisti; / Tempus abire tibi est—Thou hast amused thyself enough, hast eaten and drunk enough; ’tis time for thee to depart.
Macies et nova febrium / Terris incubuit cohors—A wasting disease and an unheard-of battalion of fevers have swooped down on the earth.
Maculæ quas incuria fudit—The blemishes, or errors, which carelessness has produced.
Magnas inter opes inops—Poor in the midst of great wealth.
Magno de flumine mallem / Quam ex hoc fonticulo tantundem sumere—I had rather take my glass of water from a great river like this than from this little fountain.In reproof of those who lay by large stores and never use them.
Magnum hoc ego duco / Quod placui tibi qui turpi secernis honestum—I account it a great honour that I have pleased a man like you, who know so well to discriminate between the base and the honourable.
Magnum pauperies opprobrium jubet / Quidvis aut facere aut pati—Poverty, that deep disgrace, bids us do or suffer anything.
Male verum examinat omnis / Corruptus judex—Badly is the truth weighed by a corrupt judge.
Mea virtute me involvo—I wrap myself in my virtue.
Mediocribus esse poetis / Non Di, non homines, non concessere columnæ—Mediocrity in poets is condemned by gods and men, and booksellers too.
Mediocrity is not allowed to poets either by gods or men.
Mendici, mimi, balatrones, et hoc genus omne—Beggars, actors in farces, buffoons, and all that sort of people.
Mentis gratissimus error—A most delightful reverie of the mind.
Meo sum pauper in ære—I am poor, but I am not in debt.
Metiri se quemque suo modulo ac pede verum est—It is meet that every man should measure himself by his own rule and standard.
Micat inter omnes—It shines amongst all, i.e., it outshines all.
Migravit ab aure voluptas / Omnis—All pleasure has fled from the ear, (dumb show having taken the place of dialogue on the stage).
Mihi forsan, tibi quod negarit, / Porriget hora—The hour will perhaps extend to me what it has denied to you.
Mihi res, non me rebus, subjungere conor—My aim is to subject circumstances to me, and not myself to them.
Mihi tarda fluunt ingrataque tempora—For me the time passes slowly and joyously away.
Millia frumenti tua triverit area centum, / Non tuus hinc capiet venter plus ac meus—Though your threshing-floor should yield a hundred thousand bushels of corn, will your stomach therefore hold more than mine?
Minuentur atræ / Carmine curæ—Black care will be soothed by song.
Misce stultitiam consiliis brevem—Mix a little folly with your serious thoughts.
Mobilium turba Quiritium—A crowd of fickle citizens.
Modo me Thebis, modo ponit Athenis—He sets me down now at Thebes, now at Athens, i.e., the poet does so by his magic art.
Mollissima tempora fandi—The most fitting moment for speaking, or addressing, one.
Molliter austerum studio fallente laborem—The interest in the pursuit gently beguiling the severity of the toil.
Mores multorum vidit—He saw the manners of many men.Of Ulysses.
Mors et fugacem persequitur virum—Death pursues the man as he flees from it.
Mors ultima linea rerum est—Death is the farthest limit of our changing life.
Mortalia facta peribunt, / Nedum sermonum stet honos et gratia vivax—All man’s works must perish; how much less shall the power and grace of language long survive!
Movet cornicula risum / Furtivis nudata coloribus—The crow, stript of its stolen colours, provokes our ridicule.
Multa fero ut placeam genus irritabile vatum—Much I endure to appease the irritable race of poets.
Multa ferunt anni venientes commoda secum; / Multa recedentes adimunt—The coming years bring with them many advantages; as they recede they take many away.
Multa petentibus / Desunt multa—Those who crave much want much.
Multa renascentur quæ jam cecidere, cadentque / Quæ nunc sunt in honore vocabula, si volet usus, / Quem penes arbitrium est, et jus, et norma loquendi—Many words now in disuse will revive, and many now in vogue will be forgotten, if usage wills it, in whose hands is the choice and the right to lay down the law of language.
Multa senem circumveniunt incommoda—Many are the discomforts that gather round old age.
Multa tulit, fecitque puer, sudavit et alsit—Much from early years has he suffered and done, sweating and chilled.
Multi nil rectum nisi quod placuit sibi ducunt—Many deem nothing right but what suits their own conceit.
Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit / Nulli flebilior quam tibi—He fell lamented by many good men, by none more lamented than by thee (Virgil).Of Quintilius.
Multos castra juvant, et lituo tubæ / Permistus sonitus, bellaque matribus / Detestata—The camp and the clang of the trumpet mingled with the clarion, and wars detested by mothers, have delights for many.
Multum abludit imago—The picture is outrageously unlike.
Multum demissus homo—A modest reserved man.
Mundæque parvo sub lare pauperum / Cœnæ, sine aulæis et ostro, / Sollicitam explicuere frontem—A neat, simple meal under the humble roof of the poor, without hangings and purple, has smoothed the wrinkles of an anxious brow.
Munus Apolline dignum—A present worthy of Apollo.
Mutato nomine, de te / Fabula narratur—Change but the name, the story’s told of you.
Nam de mille fabæ modiis dum surripis unum, / Damnum est, non facinus mihi pacto lenius isto—If from a thousand bushels of beans you steal one, my loss, it is true, is in this case less, but not your villany.
Nam neque divitibus contingunt gaudia solis, / Nec vixit male qui natus moriensque fefellit—Joys do not fall to the rich alone; nor has he lived ill of whose birth and death no one took note.
Nam tua res agitur, paries cum proximus ardet!—Your property is in peril surely if your neighbour’s house is on fire!
Nam vitiis nemo sine nascitur; optimus ille est, / Qui minimis urgetur—No man is born without faults; he is the best who is influenced by the fewest.
Narratur et prisci Catonis / Sæpe mero caluisse virtus—It is said that the virtue even of the elder Cato was often warmed by wine.
Natales grate numeras? ignoscis amicis? / Lenior et melior fis accedente senecta?—Do you count your birthdays thankfully? forgive your friends? grow gentler and better with advancing age?
Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret—Drive Nature out with a pitchfork, she will every time come rushing back.
Ne te longis ambagibus ultra / Quam satis est morer—To make a long story short (lit. not to detain you by long digressions more than enough).
Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus—Never let a god interfere unless a difficulty arise worthy of a god’s interposition.
Nec lusisse pudet, sed non incidere ludum—There is no shame in having led a wild life, but in not breaking it off.
Nec scire fas est omnia—It is not permitted us to know all things.
Nec verbum verbo curabis reddere fidus / Interpres—Nor, as a faithful translator, should you be careful to render the original word for word.
Neglecta solent incendia sumere vires—A fire, if neglected, always gathers in strength.
Nequaquam satis in re una consumere curam—It is by no means enough to spend all our care on a single object.
Neque semper arcum / Tendit Apollo—Apollo does not always keep his bow bent.
Nescit vox missa reverti—A word once uttered can never be recalled.
Nihil est ab omni / Parte beatum—There is nothing that is blessed in every respect.
Nil æquale homini fuit illi—There was no consistency in that man.
Nil admirari prope est res una, Numici, / Solaque, quæ possit facere et servare beatum—To wonder at nothing, Numicius, is almost the one and only thing which can make and keep men happy.
Nil agit exemplum litem quod lite resolvit—An illustration which solves one difficulty by involving us in another settles nothing.
Nil cupientium / Nudus castra peto—Naked myself, I make for the camp of those who desire nothing.
Nil desperandum Teucro duce et auspice Teucro—Let us despair of nothing while Teucer is our leader and we under his auspices.
Nil ego contulerim jucundo sanus amico—As long as I have my senses, there is nothing I would prefer to an agreeable friend.
Nil fuit unquam sic impar sibi—Never was such an inconsistent creature seen before.
Nil me officit unquam, / Ditior hic, aut est quia doctior; est locus uni / Cuique suus—It never the least annoys me that another is richer or more learned than I; every one has his own place assigned him.
Nil mortalibus arduum est—Nothing is too arduous for mortals.
Nil oriturum alias, nil ortum tale fatentes—Confessing that none like you has arisen before, none will ever arise.
Nil rectum nisi quod placuit sibi ducunt—They deem nothing right except what seems good to themselves.
Nil sine magno / Vita labore dedit mortalibus—Life has granted nothing to mankind save through great labour.
Nimirum insanus paucis videatur, eo quod / Maxima pars hominum morbo jactatur eodem—There are few, I say, to whom this fellow should appear insane, since by far the majority of people are infected with the same malady.
Nocet empta dolore voluptas—Pleasure purchased by pain is injurious.
Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum—It is not every man that can get to Corinth, i.e., rise in the world.
Non eadem est ætas, non mens—My age is no longer the same, nor my inclination.
Non ebur neque aureum / Mea renidet in domo lacunar—In my dwelling no ivory gleams, nor fretted roof covered with gold.
Non ego avarum / Cum te veto fieri, vappam jubeo ac nebulonem—When I say, Be not a miser, I do not bid you become a worthless prodigal.
Non ego ventosæ venor suffragia plebis—I do not hunt after the suffrages of the fickle multitude.
Non enim gazæ neque consularis / Summovet lictor miseros tumultus / Mentis et curas laqueata circum, / Tecta volantes—For neither regal treasure, nor the consul’s lictor, nor the cares that hover about fretted ceilings, can remove the unhappy tumults of the mind.
Non erat his locus—This was out of place here.
Non est jocus esse malignum—There is no joking where there is spite.
Non in caro nidore voluptas / Summa, sed in te ipso est, tu pulmentaria quære / Sudando—The pleasure (in eating) does not lie in the costly flavour, but in yourself. Seek the relish, therefore, from hard exercise.
Non magni pendis, quia contigit—You do not value it highly because it has been your lot.
Non missura cutem, nisi plena cruoris hirudo—A leech that will not leave the skin until it is gorged with blood.
Non omnes eadem mirantur amantque—All men do not admire and love the same objects.
Non omnis moriar; multaque pars mei / Vitabit Libitinam—I shall not wholly die; and a great part of me shall escape the grave.
Non possidentem multa vocaveris / Recte beatum. Rectius occupat / Nomen beati, qui Deorum / Muneribus sapienter uti, / Duramque callet pauperiem pati, / Pejusque leto flagitium timet—You would not justly call him blessed who has great possessions; more justly does he claim the title who knows how to use wisely the gifts of the gods and to bear the hardships of poverty, and who fears disgrace worse than death.
Non satis est pulchra esse poëmata; dulcia sunto, / Et quocumque volent animum auditoris agunto—It is not enough that poems be beautiful; they must also be affecting, and move at will the hearer’s soul.
Non si male nunc, et olim sic erit—If it is ill now, it will not also be so hereafter.
Non sum qualis eram—I am not what I once was.
Non usitata, nec tenui ferar penna—I shall be borne on no common, no feeble, wing.
Non vixit male, qui natus moriensque fefellit—He has not lived ill whose birth and death has been unnoticed by the world.
Nos numerus sumus et fruges consumere nati—We are a mere number (but ciphers), and born to consume the fruits of the earth.
Notandi sunt tibi mores—The manners of men are to be carefully observed.
Nuda veritas—Undisguised truth.
Nugæ canoræ—Melodious trifles; agreeable nonsense.
Nugis addere pondus—To add weight to trifles.
Nulla placere diu, vel vivere carmina possunt / Quæ scribuntur aquæ potoribus—No poems written by water-drinkers can be long popular or live long.
Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri, / Quo me cunque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes—Bound to swear by the opinions of no master, I present myself a guest wherever the storm drives me.
Nullus argento color est, / Nisi temperato / Splendeat usu—Money has no splendour of its own, unless it shines by temperate use.
Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero, / Pulsanda tellus!—Now let us drink; now let us beat the ground with merry foot.
Nunc vino pellite curas!—Now drive off your cares with wine.
O cives, cives, quærenda pecunia primum est; / Virtus post nummos—O citizens, citizens, you must seek for money first, for virtue after cash.
O major tandem, parcas, insane, minori—Oh, thou who art a greater madman: spare me, I pray, who am not so far gone.
O noctes cœnæque deum!—Oh, nights and suppers of the gods!
O rus quando te aspiciam? quandoque licebit / Nunc veterum libris, nunc somno et inertibus horis / Ducere sollicitæ jucunda oblivia vitæ?—Oh, country, when shall I see thee, and when shall I be permitted to quaff a sweet oblivion of anxious life, now from the books of the ancients, now from sleep and idle hours?
Occupet extremum scabies!—Murrain take the hindmost!
Oderunt hilarem tristes, tristemque jocosi, / Sedatum celeres, agilem gnavumque remissi—Sad men dislike a gay spirit, and the jocular a sad; the quick-witted dislike the sedate, and the careless the busy and industrious.
Oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore—Good men shrink from wrong out of love for virtue.
Odi profanum vulgus et arceo—I hate the profane rabble, and keep them far from me.
Ohe! jam satis est—Stay! that is enough.
Oleum adde camino—Add fuel to the fire.
Omne capax movet urna nomen—In the capacious urn of death every name is shaken.
Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci / Lectorem delectando, pariterque monendo—He gains universal applause who mingles the useful with the agreeable, at once delighting and instructing the reader.
Omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum—Believe that each day which shines on you is your last.
Omnes composui—I have laid them all at rest (in the grave).
Omnes eodem cogimur; omnium / Versatur urna serius, ocius, / Sors exitura, et nos in æter- / Num exsilium impositura cymbæ—We are all driven to the same ferry; the lot of each is shaken in the urn, destined sooner or later to come forth, and place us in Charon’s wherry for eternal exile.
Omnes una manet nox, / Et calcanda semel via lethi—One night awaits us all, and the path of death must once be trodden by us.
Omnibus hoc vitium est cantoribus, inter amicos / Ut nunquam inducant animum cantare rogati, / Injussi nunquam desistant—This is a general fault of all singers, that among their friends they never make up their minds to sing, however pressed; but when no one asks them, they will never leave off.
Omnis enim res / Virtus, fama, decus, divina humanaque pulchris / Divitiis parent; quas qui construxerit, ille / Clarus erit, fortis, justus—All things divine and human, as virtue, fame, and honour, defer to fair wealth, and he who has amassed it will be illustrious, brave, and just.
Opere in longo fas est obrepere somnum—In a long work sleep must steal upon us.
Operosa parvus carmina fingo—I, a little one, compose laborious songs.
Optat ephippia bos piger; optat arare caballus—The lazy ox covets the horse’s trappings; the horse would fain plough.
Pallida mors æquo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas, / Regumque turres—Pale Death with impartial foot knocks at the hovels of the poor and the palaces of kings.
Par nobile fratrum—A precious pair of brothers.
Parens Deorum cultor, et infrequens, / Insanientis dum sapientiæ / Consultus erro; nunc retrorsum / Vela dare, atque iterare cursus / Cogor relictos—A niggard and unfrequent worshipper of the gods, as long as I strayed from the way by senseless philosophy; I am now forced to turn my sail back, and to retrace the course I had deserted.
Pars hominum vitiis gaudet constanter, et urget / Propositum: pars multa natat, modo recta capessens, / Interdum pravis obnoxia—A portion of mankind glory consistently in their vices and pursue their purpose; many more waver between doing what is right and complying with what is wrong.
Parthis mendacior—More mendacious than the Parthians.
Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus—Mountains are in labour, a ridiculous mouse will be brought forth.
Parvula (nam exemplo est) magni formica laboris / Ore trahit quodcunque potest atque addit acervo, / Quem struit, haud ignara ac non incauta futuri—The ant, for instance, is a creature of great industry, drags with its mouth all it can, and adds to the heap it piles up, not ignorant or improvident of the future.
Parvum parva decent—Him that is little little things become.
Patria quis exul / Se quoque fugit?—What fugitive from his country can also fly from himself?
Paulum sepultæ distat inertiæ / Celata virtus—Worth that is hidden differs little from buried sloth.
Pauper enim non est cui rerum suppetit usus. / Si ventri bene, si lateri pedibusque tuis, nil / Divitiæ poterunt regales addere majus—That man is not poor who has a sufficiency for all his wants. If it is well with your stomach, your lungs, and your feet, the wealth of kings can add no more.
Paupertatis pudor et fuga—The shame and the bugbear of poverty.
Peccare docentes / Fallax historias movet—He deceitfully relates stories that are merely lessons in vice.
Percunctatorem fugito, nam garrulus idem est; / Nec retinent patulæ commissa fideliter aures—Avoid an inquisitive person, for he is sure to be a gossip; ears always open to hear will not keep faithfully what is intrusted to them.
Perdidit arma, locum virtutis deseruit, qui / Semper in augenda festinat et obruitur re—He has lost his arms and deserted the cause of virtue who is ever eager and engrossed in increasing his wealth.
Pergis pugnantia secum / Frontibus adversis componere—You are attempting to reconcile things which are opposite in their natures.
Periculosæ plenum opus aleæ / Tractas, et incedis per ignes / Suppositos cineri doloso—The work you are treating is one full of dangerous hazard, and you are treading over fires lurking beneath treacherous ashes.
Permitte divis cætera—Commit the rest to the gods.
Perpetuus nulli datur usus, et hæres / Hæredem alterius, velut unda supervenit undam—Perpetual possession is allowed to none, and one heir succeeds another, as wave follows wave.
Pictoribus atque poetis / Quidlibet audendi semper fuit æqua potestas—The power of daring anything their fancy suggests has always been conceded to the painter and the poet.
Plerumque modestus / Occupat obscuri speciem, taciturnus acerbi—Usually the modest man passes for a reserved man, the silent for a sullen one.
Ploravere suis non respondere favorem / Speratum meritis—They lamented that their merits did not meet with the gratitude they hoped for.
Populus me sibilat; at mihi plaudo / Ipse domi, simul ac nummos contemplor in arca—The people hiss me; but I applaud myself at home as soon as I gaze upon the coins in my chest.For the miser.
Post equitem sedet atra cura—Behind the horseman sits dark care.
Post mediam noctem visus quum somnia vera—He appeared to me in vision after midnight, when dreams are true.
Principibus placuisse viris non ultima laus est—To have earned the goodwill of the great is not the least of merits.
Privatus illis census erat brevis, / Commune magnum—Their private property was small, the public revenue great.
Prodigus et stultus donat quæ spernit et odit. / Hæc seges ingratos tulit, et feret omnibus annis—The spendthrift and fool gives away what he despises and hates. This seed has ever borne, and will bear, an ungrateful brood.
Propriæ telluris herum natura, neque illum, / Nec me, nec quemquam statuit. Nos expulit ille: / Illum aut nequities, aut vafri inscitia juris, / Postremo expellet certe vivacior hæres—Nature has appointed neither him nor me, nor any one, lord of this land in perpetuity. That one has ejected us; either some villany or quirk at law, at any rate, an heir surviving him, will at last eject him.
Prudens futuri temporis exitum / Caliginosa nocte premit Dens; / Ridetque, si mortalis ultra / Fas trepidat—The Deity in His wisdom veils in the darkness of night the events of the future; and smiles if a mortal is unduly solicitous about what he is not permitted to know.
Pulchre! bene! recte!—Beautiful! good! correct!
Pulvis et umbra sumus, fruges consumere nati—We are but dust and shadows, born merely to consume the fruits of the earth.
Quæ virtus et quanta, boni, sit vivere parvo!—How great, my friends, is the virtue of living upon a little!
Quærenda pecunia primum, / Virtus post nummos—Money must be sought for in the first instance; virtue after riches.
Qualem commendes etiam atque etiam aspice, ne mox / Incutiant aliena tibi peccata pudorem—Study carefully the character of him you recommend, lest his misdeeds bring you shame.
Quam temere in nosmet legem sancimus iniquam!—How rashly do we sanction a rule to tell against ourselves!
Quando ullum inveniet parem?—When shall we find his like again?
Quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus—Even the worthy Homer nods sometimes.
Quanto quisque sibi plura negaverit, / A Dis plura feret—The more a man denies himself, the more will he receive from the gods.
Quem res plus nimio delectavere secundæ, / Mutatæ quatient—The man whom prosperity too much delights will be most shocked by reverses.
Qui dedit hoc hodie, cras, si volet, auferet—He who has given to-day may, if he so please, take away to-morrow.
Qui fit, Mæcenas, ut nemo, quam sibi sortem / Seu ratio dederit, seu fors objecerit, illa / Contentus vivat; laudet diversa sequentes?—How happens it, Mæcenas, that no one lives content with the lot which either reason has chosen for him or chance thrown in his way; but that he praises the fortune of those who follow other pursuits?
Qui mores hominum multorum vidit et urbes—He who saw the manners of many men and cities.of Ulysses.
Qui nil molitur inepte—One who never makes any unsuccessful effort.
Qui non moderabitur iræ / Infectum volet esse, dolor quod suaserit et mens—He who does not restrain his anger will wish that undone which his irritation and temper prompted him to.
Qui recte vivendi prorogat horam / Rusticus expectat dum defluat amnis, at ille / Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis ævum—He who postpones the hour for living aright is as one who waits like the clown till the river flow by; but it glides and will glide on to all time.
Qui semel aspexit quantum dimissa petitis / Præstant, mature redeat, repetatque relicta—Let him who has once perceived how much what he has given up is better than what he has chosen, immediately return and resume what he has relinquished.
Quia corpus onustum / Hesternis vitiis animum quoque prægravat una, / Atque affigit humo divinæ particulam auræ—And the body, overcharged with yesterday’s excess, weighs down the soul also along with it, and fastens to the ground a particle of the divine ether.
Quid æternis minorem / Consiliis animum fatigas?—Why harass with eternal purposes a mind too weak to grasp them?
Quid brevi fortes jaculamur ævo / Multa? quid terras alio calentes / Sole mutamus?—Why do we, whose life is so brief, aim at so many things? Why change we to lands warmed by another sun?
Quid de quoque viro, et cui dicas, sæpe caveto—Be ever on your guard what you say of any man, and to whom.
Quid deceat, quid non obliti—Neglectful of what is seemly and what is not.
Quid dem? quid non dem? renuis tu quod jubet alter—What shall I give? what withhold? you refuse what another demands.
Quid dignum tanto feret hic promissor hiatu?—What will this promiser produce worthy of such boastful language?
Quid leges sine moribus / Vanæ proficiunt—What do idle laws avail without morals?
Quid non ebrietas designat? Operta recludit; / Spes jubet esse ratas; in prælia trudit inertem; / Sollicitis animis onus eximit; addocet artes—What does not drink effect? it unlocks secrets; bids our hopes to be realised; urges the dastard to the fight; lifts the load from troubled minds; teaches accomplishments.
Quid nos dura refugimus / Ætas? Quid intactum nefasti / Liquimus?—What have we, a hardened generation, shrunk from? What have we, in our impiety, left inviolate?
Quid obseratis auribus fundis preces?—Why do you pour prayers into ears that are stopped?
Quid quisque vitet, nunquam homini satis, / Cautum est in horas—What he should shun from hour to hour man is never sufficiently on his guard.
Quid sit futurum cras fuge quærere, et / Quem sors dierum cunque dabit, lucro / Appone—Shrink from asking what is to be to-morrow, and every day that fortune shall grant you set down as gain.
Quid te exempta juvat spinis de pluribus una?—What better are you if you pluck out but one of many thorns?
Quid tristes querimoniæ / Si non supplicio culpa reciditur?—What do sad complaints avail if the offence is not cut down by punishment.
Quid velit et possit rerum concordia discors—What the discordant concord of things means and can educe.
Quid verum atque decens curo et rogo, et omnis in hoc sum—My care and study is what is true and becoming, and in this I am wholly absorbed.
Quidquid præcipies, esto brevis, ut cito dicta / Percipiant animi dociles, teneantque fideles / Omne supervacuum pleno de pectore manat—Whatever you teach, be brief; what is quickly said, the mind readily receives and faithfully retains, everything superfluous runs over as from a full vessel.
Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus / Tam cari capitis?—What shame or measure can there be to our regret for one so dear?
Quis scit an adjiciant hodiernæ crastina summæ / Tempora Di superi?—Who knows whether the gods above will add to-morrow’s hours to the sum of to-day?
Quisnam igitur liber? Sapiens qui sibi imperiosus; / Quem neque pauperies neque mors neque vincula terrent; / Responsare cupidinibus, contemnere honores / Fortis, et in seipso totus teres atque rotundus—Who then is free? He who is wisely lord of himself, whom neither poverty, nor death, nor bonds terrify, who is strong to resist his appetites and despise honours, and is complete in himself, smooth and round like a globe.
Quo mihi fortunam, si non conceditur uti?—To what end have the gods given me fortune, if I may not use it?
Quo semel est imbuta recens servabit odorem / Testa diu—The jar will long retain the odour of the liquor with which, when new, it was once saturated.
Quo teneam vultus mutantem Protea nodo?—By what noose shall I hold this Proteus who is ever changing his shape?
Quod medicorum est / Promittunt medici, tractant fabrilia fabri / Scribimus indocti doctique poemata passim—Doctors practise what belongs to doctors, workmen handle the tools they have been trained to, but all of us everywhere, trained and untrained, alike write verses.
Quod satis est cui contingit, nihil amplius optet—Let him who for his share has enough wish for nothing more.
Quot capitum vivunt, totidem studiorum—There are as many thousands of different tastes of pursuits as there are individuals alive.
Rapiamus, amici, / Occasionem de die—Let us, my friends, snatch our opportunity from the passing day.
Raro antecedentem scelestum / Deseruit pede pœna claudo—Rarely does punishment, with halting foot, fail to overtake the criminal in his flight.
Rebus angustis animosus atque / Fortis appare; sapienter idem / Contrahes vento nimium secundo / Turgida vela—Wisely show yourself spirited and resolute when perils press you; likewise reef your sails when they swell too much by a favouring breeze.
Recepto / Dulce mihi furere est amico—It is delightful to indulge in extravagance on the return of a friend.
Rectius vives, Licini, neque altum / Semper urgendo, neque, dum procellas / Cautus horrescis, nimium premendo / Littus iniquum—You will live more prudently, Licinius, by neither always keeping out at sea, nor, while you warily shrink from storms, hugging too closely the treacherous shore.
Reddere personæ scit convenientia cuique—He knows how to assign to each character what it is proper for him to think and say.Of a dramatic poet.
Reddere qui voces jam scit puer, et pede certo / Signat humum, gestit paribus colludere, et iram / Colligit ac ponit temere, et mutatur in horas—The boy who just knows how to talk and treads the ground with firm foot, delights to play with his mates, is easily provoked and easily appeased, and changes every hour.
Redeat miseris, abeat fortuna superbis—May fortune revisit the wretched, and forsake the proud!
Reges dicuntur multis urgere culullis, / Et torquere mero, quem perspexisse laborent, / An sit amicitia dignus—Kings are said to press with many a cup, and test with wine the man whom they desire to try whether he is worthy of their friendship.
Relicta non bene parmula—Having ingloriously left my shield behind.
Rem tu strenuus auge—Labour assiduously to increase your property.
Rem, facias rem, / Si possis recte, si non, quocunque modo rem—A fortune, make a fortune, honestly if you can; if not, make it by any means.
Respicere exemplar vitæ morumque jubebo / Doctum imitatorem, et veras hinc ducere voces—I would recommend the learned imitator to study closely his model in life and manners, and thence to draw his expressions to the life.
Ridentem dicere verum / Quid vetat?—Why may a man not speak the truth in a jocular vein?
Ridet argento domus—The house is smiling with silver.
Ridetur chorda qui semper oberrat eadem—He is laughed at who is for ever harping away on the same string.
Ridiculum acri / Fortius ac melius magnas plerumque secat res—Ridicule often settles matters of importance better and more effectually than severity.
Risum teneatis, amici?—Can you refrain from laughter, my friends?
Romæ rus optas, absentem rusticus urbem / Tollis ad astra levis—At Rome you pine unsettled for the country, in the country you laud the distant city to the skies.
Romæ Tibur amem, ventosus, Tibure Romam—Fickle as the wind, I love Tibur when at Rome, and Rome when at Tibur.
Rusticus expectat dum defluat amnis; at ille / Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis ævum—The peasant waits until the river shall cease to flow; but still it glides on, and will glide on for all time to come.
Sæpe decipimur specie recti—We are often misled by the appearance of truth.
Sæpe stylum vertas, iterum quæ digna legi sint / Scripturus; neque, te ut miretur turba, labores / Contentus paucis lectoribus—You must often make erasures if you mean to write what is worthy of being read a second time; and labour not for the admiration of the crowd, but be content with a few choice readers.
Sæpius ventis agitatur ingens / Pinus, et celsæ graviore casu / Decidunt turres, feriuntque summos / Fulmina montes—The huge pine is more frequently shaken by the winds, high towers fall with a heavier crash, and it is the mountain-tops that the thunderbolts strike.
Sæva paupertas, et avitus apto cum lare fundus—Stern poverty, and an ancestral piece of land with a dwelling to match.
Sanctum est vetus omne poema—Every old poem is sacred.
Sapientem pascere barbam—To cultivate a philosophic beard.
Sapientum octavus—The eighth of the wise men.
Satis est orare Jovem, quæ donat et aufert; / Det vitam, det opes, æquum mi animum ipse parabo—It is enough to pray to Jove for those things which he gives and takes away; let him grant life, let him grant wealth; I myself will provide myself with a well-poised mind.
Satis superque me benignitas tua / Ditavit—Your bounty has enriched me enough, and more than enough.
Scit genius, natale comes qui temperet astrum—The genius, our companion, who rules our natal star, knows.
Scribendi recte sapere est et principium et fons—Good sense is both the first principle and parent-source of good writing.
Scribimus indocti doctique—All of us, unlearned and learned, alike take to writing.
Sed notat hunc omnis domus et vicinia tota, / Introrsum turpem, speciosum pelle decora—But all his family and the entire neighbourhood regard him as inwardly base, and only showy outside.
Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem, / Quam quæ sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus—What we learn merely through the ear makes less impression upon our minds than what is presented to the trustworthy eye.
Semper avarus eget; certum voto pete finem—The avaricious man is ever in want; let your desire aim at a fixed limit.
Sepulchri / Mitte supervacuos honores—Discard the superfluous honours at the grave.
Serus in cœlum redeas diuque / Lætus intersis populo—May it be long before you return to the sky, and may you long move up and down gladly among your people.To Augustus.
Servetur ad imum / Qualis ab incepto processerit, et sibi constet—Let the character be kept up to the very end, just as it began, and so be consistent.
Serviet æternum, quia parvo nescit uti—He will be always a slave, because he knows not how to live upon little.
Sesquipedalia verba—Words a cubit long.
Severæ Musa tragœdiæ—The Muse of solemn tragedy.
Si foret in terris, rideret Democritus—If Democritus were on earth now, he would laugh.
Si fractus illabatur orbis, / Impavidum ferient ruinæ—If the world should fall in wreck about him, the ruins would crush him undaunted.Of the upright man.
Si quid novisti rectius istis, / Candidus imperti; si non, his utere mecum—If you know anything better than these maxims, frankly impart them to me; if not, use these like me.
Si vis me flere, dolendum est / Primum ipsi tibi—If you wish me to weep, you must first show grief yourself.
Sic leve, sic parvum est, animum quod laudis avarum / Subruit ac reficit—So light, so insignificant a thing is that which casts down or revives a soul that is greedy of praise.
Sic me servavit Apollo—Thus was I served by Apollo.
Sic visum Veneri, cui placet impares / Formas, atque animos sub juga ahenea / Sævo mittere cum joco—Such is the will of Venus, whose pleasure it is in cruel sport to subject to her brazen yoke persons and tempers ill-matched.
Singula de nobis anni prædantur euntes—The years as they pass bereave us first of one thing and then another.
Sit mihi quod nunc est, etiam minus; ut mihi vivam / Quod superest ævi, si quid superesse volunt Di—May I continue to possess what I have now, or even less; so I may live the remainder of my days after my own plan, if the gods will that any should remain.
Solvuntur risu tabulæ—The case is dismissed amid laughter.
Somnus agrestium / Lenis virorum non humiles domos / Fastidit, umbrosamque ripam—The gentle sleep of rustic men disdains not humble dwellings and the shady bank.
Sperat infestis, metuit secundis / Alteram sortem bene præparatum / Pectus—A heart well prepared in adversity hopes for, and in prosperity fears, a change of fortune.
Splendide mendax—Nobly false or disloyal.
Strenua nos exercet inertia; navibus atque / Quadrigis petimus bene vivere; quod petis hic est—Strenuous idleness gives us plenty to do; we seek to live aright by yachting and chariot-driving. What you are seeking for is here.
Stultitiam patiuntur opes—Riches allow one to be foolish.
Stultorum incurata malus pudor ulcera celat—It is the false shame of fools to try to conceal uncured wounds.
Sublimi feriam sidera vertice—I shall strike the stars with my uplifted head.
Subtilis veterum judex et callidus audis—You are known as a nice and experienced judge of things old.
Sume superbiam quæsitam meritis—Assume the proud place your merits have won.
Sumite materiam vestris, qui scribitis, æquam / Viribus, et versate diu, quid ferre recusent, / Quid valeant humeri—Ye who write, choose a subject suited to your abilities, and long ponder what your powers are equal to, and what they are unable to perform.
Suns cuique est mos—Every one has his own way of it.
Sunt delicta tamen, quibus ignovisse velimus—There are some faults, however, which we are willing to pardon.
Supra vires—Beyond one’s powers.
Suspendens omnia naso—Sneering at everything.
Tamen me / Cum magnis vixisse invita fatebitur usque / Invidia—Nevertheless, even envy, however unwilling, will have to admit that I have lived among great men.
Tantum series juncturaque / Tantum de medio sumptis accedit honoris—Such is the power of order and arrangement: so much grace may be imparted to subjects from common life.
Teneros animos aliena opprobria sæpe / Absterrent vitiis—The disgrace of others often deters tender minds from vice.
Teres atque rotundum—Smooth-polished and rounded.
The hardships or misfortunes we lie under are more easy to us than those of any other person would be, should we change conditions with him.
Tolle jocos; non est jocus esse malignum—Away with such jokes; there is no joking where there is malignity.
Tolle periclum, / Jam vaga prosiliet frænis natura remotis—Take away the danger, remove restraint, and vagrant nature bounds forth free.
Truditur dies die, / Novæque pergunt interire lunæ—Day presses on the heels of day, and new moons hasten to their wane.
Tu ne quæsieris, scire nefas, quem mihi quem tibi / Finem di dederint, Leuconoë—Forbear to inquire, thou mayst not know, Leuconoë, for you may not know what the gods have appointed either for you or for me.
Tu nihil invita dices faciesve Minerva—You must say and do nothing against the bent of your genius, i.e., in default of the necessary inspiration.
Tu quamcunque Deus tibi fortunaverit horam, / Grata sume manu; nec dulcia differ in annum, / Ut quocunque loco fueris, vixisse libenter / Te dicas—Receive with a thankful hand every hour that God may have granted you, and defer not the comforts of life to another year; that in whatever place you are, you may say you have lived agreeably.
Tu recte vivis, si curas esse quod audis—You live a true life if you make it your care to be what you seem.
Uni æquus virtuti, atque ejus amicis—Friendly to virtue alone and to the friends of virtue.
Urit enim fulgore suo, qui prægravat artes / Infra se positas: exstinctus amabitur idem—He who depresses the merits of those beneath him blasts them by his very splendour; but when his light is extinguished, he will be admired.
Ut pictura, poësis—It fares with a poem as with a picture.
Ut plerique solent, naso suspendis adunco / Ignotos—As is the way with most people, you turn up your nose at men of obscure origin.
Ut ridentibus arrident, ita flentibus adflent, / Humani vultus—Human countenances, as they smile on those who smile, so they weep with those that weep.
Valeat res ludicra, si me / Palma negata macrum, donata reducit opimum—Farewell to the drama if the palm as it is granted or denied makes me happy or miserable.
Valet ima summis / Mutare, et insignem attenuat Deus, / Obscura promens—The Deity has power to supplant the highest by the lowest, and he dims the lustre of the exalted by bringing forth to the light things obscure.
Vedentem thus et odores—Selling frankincense and perfumes.of worthless works fated to wrap up parcels.
Verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur—Words will not fail when the matter is well considered.
Versate diu, quid ferre recusent, / Quid valeant humeri—Weigh well what your shoulders can and cannot bear.
Vertere seria ludo—To turn from grave to gay.
Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis / Offendar maculis—But where many beauties shine in a poem, I will not be offended at a few blots.
Vestigia torrent—The footprints frighten me.
Vilius argentium est auro, virtutibus aurum—Silver is of less value than gold, gold than virtue.
Vir bonus est quis? / Qui consulta patrum, qui leges juraque servat—What man is to be called good? He who obeys the decrees of the fathers, he who respects the laws and justice.
Virtus est medium vitiorum, et utrinque reductum—Virtue is the mean between two vices, and equally removed from either.
Virtus est vitium fugere, et sapientia prima / Stultitia caruisse—It is virtue to shun vice, and the first step of wisdom is to be free from folly.
Virtus post nummos—After money virtue.
Virtus repulsæ nescia sordidæ / Intaminatis fulget honoribus; / Nec sumit aut ponit secures / Arbitrio popularis auræ—Virtue, which knows no base repulse, shines with unsullied honours, neither receives nor resigns the fasces (i.e., badges of office) at the will of popular caprice.
Virtus, recludens immeritis mori / Cælum, negata tentat iter via; / Cœtusque vulgares, et udam / Spernit humum fugiente penna—Virtue, opening heaven to those who deserve not to die, explores her way by a path to others denied, and spurns with soaring wing the vulgar crowds and the foggy earth.
Virtutem doctrina paret, naturane donet?—Does training produce virtue, or does nature bestow it?
Virtutem incolumem odimus, / Sublatam ex oculis quærimus invidi—We in our envy hate virtue when present, but seek after her when she is removed out of our sight.
Vis consili expers mole ruit sua / Vim temperatam Di quoque provehunt / In majus; idem odere vires / Omne nefas animo moventes—Force, without judgment, falls by its own weight; moreover, the gods promote well-regulated force to further advantage; but they detest force that meditates every crime.
Vitæ summa brevis spem nos vetat inchoare longam—The short span of life forbids us to spin out hope to any length.
Vitanda est improba Siren / Desidia—You must avoid sloth, that wicked Syren.
Vitavi denique culpam, / Non laudem merui—I have, in brief, avoided what is censurable, not merited what is commendable.
Vitiis nemo sine nascitur; optimus ille / Qui minimis urgetur—No man is born without faults; he is the best who is oppressed with fewest.
Vivere si recte nescis, decede peritis—If you know not how to live aright, quit the company of those who do.
Vivite fortes, / Fortiaque adversis opponite pectora rebus—Live as brave men, and breast adversity with stout hearts.
Vivitur parvo bene, cui paternum / Splendet in mensa tenui salinum; / Nec leves somnos timor aut cupido / Sordidus aufert—He lives well on little on whose frugal board the paternal salt-cellar shines, and whose soft slumbers are not disturbed by fear or the sordid passion for gain.
Vivo et regno, simul ista reliqui, / Quæ vos ad cœlum fertis rumore secundo—I live and am a king, as soon as I have left those interests of the city, which you exalt to the skies in such laudation.
Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona / Multi; sed omnes illacrymabiles / Urgentur, ignotique longa / Nocte, carent quia vate sacro—Many brave men lived before Agamemnon; but all of them, unwept and unknown, are o’erwhelmed in endless night, because no sacred bard was there to sing their praises.
When you introduce a moral lesson, let it be brief.
You traverse the world in search of happiness, which is within the reach of every man; a contented mind confers it on all.
Zonam perdidit—He has lost his purse (lit. his girdle).