Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Oracle
Ibis redibis non morieris in bello.
Thou shalt go thou shalt return never in battle shalt thou perish.
Utterance of the Oracle which through absence of punctuation and position of word “non” may be interpreted favorably or the reverse.
A Delphic sword.
Aristotle—Politica. I. 2. (Referring to the ambiguous Delphic Oracles.)
The oracles are dumb,
No voice or hideous hum
Runs thro’ the arched roof in words deceiving.
Milton—Hymn on Christ’s Nativity. L. 173.
I am Sir Oracle,
And when I ope my lips let no dog bark!
Merchant of Venice. Act I. Sc. 1. L. 93.