Latin quotes with translation

Explore well-known and useful Latin quotes, phrases and sayings. In Latin with translation.

„Nor can anyone rightly choose his own doctrine from all, unless he has first made himself familiar with all of them. Moreover, there is in each school something distinctive, which it has not in common with any other.“
Nec potest ex omnibus sibi recte propriam selegisse, qui omnes prius familiariter non agnoverit. Adde quod in una quaque familia est aliquid insigne, quod non sit ei commune cum caeteris.

— Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, book Oration on the Dignity of Man

30. 196-197
Oration on the Dignity of Man (1496)
Original: (la) Nec potest ex omnibus sibi recte propriam selegisse, qui omnes prius familiariter non agnoverit. Adde quod in una quaque familia est aliquid insigne, quod non sit ei commune cum caeteris.

„To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?“
Nescire autem quid ante quam natus sis acciderit, id est semper esse puerum. Quid enim est aetas hominis, nisi ea memoria rerum veterum cum superiorum aetate contexitur? ([http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cicero/orator.shtml#120 120])

— Marcus Tullius Cicero Roman philosopher and statesman -106 - -43 BC

Variant translation: To be ignorant of the past is to be forever a child.
Chapter XXXIV, section 120
Orator Ad M. Brutum (46 BC)
Original: (la) Nescire autem quid ante quam natus sis acciderit, id est semper esse puerum. Quid enim est aetas hominis, nisi ea memoria rerum veterum cum superiorum aetate contexitur? ( 120 http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cicero/orator.shtml#120)
Variant: Not to know what happened before you were born is to be a child forever. For what is the time of a man, except it be interwoven with that memory of ancient things of a superior age?

„Fortune favours the brave.“
Fortis fortuna adiuvat.

— Terence, Phormio

Variant translation: Fortune assists the brave.
Act I, scene 4, line 25 (203).
Cf. Virgil, Aeneid, Book X, line 284: "Audentes fortuna iuvat."
Phormio
Original: (la) Fortis fortuna adiuvat.

„I am not bound over to swear allegiance to any master; where the storm drives me I turn in for shelter.“
Nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri, quo me cumque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes.

— Horace, book Epistles

Book I, epistle i, line 14
Epistles (c. 20 BC and 14 BC)
Original: (la) Nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri,
quo me cumque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes.

„Let us live – we must die.“
Vivamus, moriendum est.

— Marcus Annaeus Seneca Roman scholar -54 - 39 BC

Book II, Chapter VI; translation from Michael Winterbottom, Declamations of the Elder Seneca (London: Heinemann, 1974) vol. 1 p. 349
Some editions of Seneca prefer the reading Bibamus, moriendum est (Let us drink – we must die).
Controversiae
Original: (la) Vivamus, moriendum est.

„It is wrong not to give a hand to the fallen; this law is universal to the whole human race.“
Iniquum est conlapsis manum non porrigere; commune hoc ius generis humani est.

— Marcus Annaeus Seneca Roman scholar -54 - 39 BC

Book I, Chapter I; slightly modified translation from Norman T. Pratt Seneca's Drama (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1983) p. 140
Controversiae
Original: (la) Iniquum est conlapsis manum non porrigere; commune hoc ius generis humani est.

„All things Death claims. To perish is not doom, but law.“
Omnia mors poscit. Lex est, non poena, perire.

— Marcus Annaeus Seneca Roman scholar -54 - 39 BC

From Epigrammata: De Qualitate Temporis 7, 7 as quoted in L. De Mauri, Angelo Paredi, Gabriele Nepi, 5000 proverbi e motti latini https://books.google.gr/books?id=hjiMpXCMCvsC&printsec=, Hoepli Editore, 1995, p. 384 and Hubertus Kudla, Lexikon der lateinischen Zitate https://books.google.gr/books?id=2Vtf_GVrdbgC&dq=, C. H. Beck, 2007, p. 416. The full text can be found in Anthologia Latina I, fasc. 1 (Walter de Gruyter, 1982) https://books.google.gr/books?id=PHWq0avQcGIC&pg=, ed. by D. R. Shackleton Bailey, p. 164. Harold Edgeworth Butler ( Post-Augustan Poetry: From Seneca to Juvenal https://books.google.gr/books?id=2gR48lrVJ-cC&dq=, Library of Alexandria, 1969, ch. 2, sec. 2) attributes De Qualitate Temporis to Seneca the Younger.
Misattributed
Original: (la) Omnia mors poscit. Lex est, non poena, perire.

„Some laws are not written, but are more decisive than any written law.“
Quædam iura non scripta, sed omnibus scriptis certiora sunt.

— Marcus Annaeus Seneca Roman scholar -54 - 39 BC

Book I, Chapter I; slightly modified translation from Norman T. Pratt Seneca's Drama (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1983) p. 140
Controversiae
Original: (la) Quædam iura non scripta, sed omnibus scriptis certiora sunt.

„Let us ease the Roman people of their continual care, who think it long to await the death of an old man.“
Liberemus diuturna cura populum Romanum, quando mortem senis exspectare longum censent. (Latin, not original language)

— Hannibal military commander of Carthage during the Second Punic War -247 - -183 BC

Last words according to Livy "ab urbe condita", Book XXXIX, 51.
Original: (la) Liberemus diuturna cura populum Romanum, quando mortem senis exspectare longum censent. (Latin, not original language)

„The immortal gods are wont to allow those persons whom they wish to punish for their guilt sometimes a greater prosperity and longer impunity, in order that they may suffer the more severely from a reverse of circumstances.“
Consuesse enim deos immortales, quo gravius homines ex commutatione rerum doleant, quos pro scelere eorum ulcisci velint, his secundiores interdum res et diuturniorem impunitatem concedere.

— Julius Caesar, book Commentarii de Bello Gallico

Book I, Ch. 14, translated by W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn
De Bello Gallico
Original: (la) Consuesse enim deos immortales, quo gravius homines ex commutatione rerum doleant, quos pro scelere eorum ulcisci velint, his secundiores interdum res et diuturniorem impunitatem concedere.

„Light propagates and spreads not only directly, through refraction, and reflection, but also by a fourth mode, diffraction.“
Lumen propagatur seu diffunditur non solum Directe, Refracte, ac Reflexe, sed etiam alio quodam quarto modo, Diffracte.

— Francesco Maria Grimaldi Italian physicist 1618 - 1663

Physico-mathesis de lumine, coloribus, et iride, aliisque adnexis libri duo: opus posthumum, published in Bologna (1665), http://books.google.com/books?id=FzYVAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPP27,M1 Proposition I.
Original: (la) Lumen propagatur seu diffunditur non solum Directe, Refracte, ac Reflexe, sed etiam alio quodam quarto modo, Diffracte.

„Every animal is sad after coitus except the human female and the rooster.“
Triste est omne animale post coitum, praeter mulierem gallumque

— Galén Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher 129 - 216

Galen (30-200 A.D.), in: Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality, (1973), p. 19.
Latter day attributions
Original: (la) Triste est omne animale post coitum, praeter mulierem gallumque

„The best physician is also a philosopher.“
Quod optimus medicus sit quoque philosophus.

— Galén Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher 129 - 216

Title of a treatise; cited from Judith Perkins The Suffering Self (London: Routledge, 1995) p. 154.
Latter day attributions
Original: (la) Quod optimus medicus sit quoque philosophus.

„I will either find a way, or make one.“
Aut viam inveniam aut faciam.

— Hannibal military commander of Carthage during the Second Punic War -247 - -183 BC

Latin proverb, most commonly attributed to Hannibal in response to his generals who had declared it impossible to cross the Alps with elephants; English translation as quoted in Salesmanship and Business Efficiency (1922) by James Samuel Knox, p. 27.
Original: (la) Aut viam inveniam aut faciam.

„Every cell from a cell.“
Omnis cellula e cellula

— Rudolf Virchow German doctor, anthropologist, public health activist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist and politician 1821 - 1902

Original: (la) Omnis cellula e cellula

„Letters are signs of things, symbols of words, whose power is so great that without a voice they speak to us the words of the absent; for they introduce words by the eye, not by the ear.“
Litterae autem sunt indices rerum, signa verborum, quibus tanta vis est, ut nobis dicta absentium sine voce loquantur. Verba enim per oculos non per aures introducunt.

— Isidore of Seville, book Etymologiae

Bk. 1, ch. 3, sect. 1; p. 96.
Etymologiae
Original: (la) Litterae autem sunt indices rerum, signa verborum, quibus tanta vis est, ut nobis dicta absentium sine voce loquantur. Verba enim per oculos non per aures introducunt.

„Aristotle compared the mind of man to a blank tablet on which nothing was written, but on which all things could be engraved. … There is, however, this difference, that on the tablet the writing is limited by space, while in the case of the mind, you may continually go on writing and engraving without finding any boundary, because, as has already been shown, the mind is without limit.“
Aristoteles hominis animum comparavit tabulae rasae, cui nihil inscriptum sit, inscribi tamen omnia possint. … Hoc interest, quod in tabula lineas ducere non licet, nisi quousque margo permittat: in mente usque et usque scribendo, et sculpendo, terminum nusquam invenies quia (ut ante monitum) interminabilis est.

— John Amos Comenius Czech teacher, educator, philosopher and writer 1592 - 1670

The Great Didactic (Didactica Magna) (Amsterdam, 1657) [written 1627–38], as translated by M. W. Keatinge (1896).
Cf. Aristotle, De anima, III, 4, 430a: "δυνάμει δ' οὕτως ὥσπερ ἐν γραμματείῳ ᾧ μηθὲν ἐνυπάρχει ἐντελεχείᾳ γεγραμμένον· ὅπερ συμβαίνει ἐπὶ τοῦ νοῦ."
Original: (la) Aristoteles hominis animum comparavit tabulae rasae, cui nihil inscriptum sit, inscribi tamen omnia possint. … Hoc interest, quod in tabula lineas ducere non licet, nisi quousque margo permittat: in mente usque et usque scribendo, et sculpendo, terminum nusquam invenies quia (ut ante monitum) interminabilis est.

„Unrighteous fortune seldom spares the highest worth; no one with safety can long front so frequent perils. Whom calamity oft passes by she finds at last.“
Iniqua raro maximis virtutibus fortuna parcit ; nemo se tuto diu periculis offerre tam crebris potest ; quem saepe transit casus, aliquando invenit.

— Seneca the Younger, Hercules Furens

Hercules Furens (The Madness of Hercules), lines 325-328; (Megara).
Tragedies
Original: (la) Iniqua raro maximis virtutibus fortuna parcit ; nemo se tuto diu periculis offerre tam crebris potest ; quem saepe transit casus, aliquando invenit.

„Education is a treasure.“
Litterae thesaurum est.

— Petronius, book Satyricon

Satyricon
Original: (la) Litterae thesaurum est.

„Necessity gives the law without itself acknowledging one.“
Necessitas dat legem non ipsa accipit.

— Publilio Siro Latin writer

Maxim 444
Variant translation: Necessity knows no law except to conquer.
Necessitas non habet legem, "Necessity has no law", is apparently of medieval origin. See Necessity for further variants.
Sentences
Original: (la) Necessitas dat legem non ipsa accipit.

„Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Etiam egestas wisi a erat. Morbi imperdiet, mauris ac auctor dictum.“

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Latin quotes with translation

„Fortune favours the brave.“
Fortis fortuna adiuvat.

„I am not bound over to swear allegiance to any master; where the storm drives me I turn in for shelter.“
Nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri, quo me cumque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes.

„Let us live – we must die.“
Vivamus, moriendum est.

„It is wrong not to give a hand to the fallen; this law is universal to the whole human race.“
Iniquum est conlapsis manum non porrigere; commune hoc ius generis humani est.

„All things Death claims. To perish is not doom, but law.“
Omnia mors poscit. Lex est, non poena, perire.

„Some laws are not written, but are more decisive than any written law.“
Quædam iura non scripta, sed omnibus scriptis certiora sunt.

„Let us ease the Roman people of their continual care, who think it long to await the death of an old man.“
Liberemus diuturna cura populum Romanum, quando mortem senis exspectare longum censent. (Latin, not original language)

„Light propagates and spreads not only directly, through refraction, and reflection, but also by a fourth mode, diffraction.“
Lumen propagatur seu diffunditur non solum Directe, Refracte, ac Reflexe, sed etiam alio quodam quarto modo, Diffracte.

„Every animal is sad after coitus except the human female and the rooster.“
Triste est omne animale post coitum, praeter mulierem gallumque

„The best physician is also a philosopher.“
Quod optimus medicus sit quoque philosophus.

„I will either find a way, or make one.“
Aut viam inveniam aut faciam.

„Every cell from a cell.“
Omnis cellula e cellula

„Education is a treasure.“
Litterae thesaurum est.

„Necessity gives the law without itself acknowledging one.“
Necessitas dat legem non ipsa accipit.

„Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Etiam egestas wisi a erat. Morbi imperdiet, mauris ac auctor dictum.“

Today anniversaries

Leonard Nimoy14

Lawrence Durrell52

Paul Ricoeur2

John Steinbeck351

Latin quotes with translation

„Fortune favours the brave.“Fortis fortuna adiuvat.

„I am not bound over to swear allegiance to any master; where the storm drives me I turn in for shelter.“Nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri, quo me cumque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes.

„Let us live – we must die.“Vivamus, moriendum est.

„It is wrong not to give a hand to the fallen; this law is universal to the whole human race.“Iniquum est conlapsis manum non porrigere; commune hoc ius generis humani est.

„All things Death claims. To perish is not doom, but law.“Omnia mors poscit. Lex est, non poena, perire.

„Some laws are not written, but are more decisive than any written law.“Quædam iura non scripta, sed omnibus scriptis certiora sunt.

„Let us ease the Roman people of their continual care, who think it long to await the death of an old man.“Liberemus diuturna cura populum Romanum, quando mortem senis exspectare longum censent. (Latin, not original language)

Help us translate English quotes

„Light propagates and spreads not only directly, through refraction, and reflection, but also by a fourth mode, diffraction.“Lumen propagatur seu diffunditur non solum Directe, Refracte, ac Reflexe, sed etiam alio quodam quarto modo, Diffracte.

„Every animal is sad after coitus except the human female and the rooster.“Triste est omne animale post coitum, praeter mulierem gallumque

„The best physician is also a philosopher.“Quod optimus medicus sit quoque philosophus.

„I will either find a way, or make one.“Aut viam inveniam aut faciam.

„Every cell from a cell.“Omnis cellula e cellula

„Education is a treasure.“Litterae thesaurum est.

„Necessity gives the law without itself acknowledging one.“Necessitas dat legem non ipsa accipit.

„Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Etiam egestas wisi a erat. Morbi imperdiet, mauris ac auctor dictum.“

Today anniversaries

Leonard Nimoy14

Lawrence Durrell52

Paul Ricoeur2

John Steinbeck351

„Fortune favours the brave.“
Fortis fortuna adiuvat.

„I am not bound over to swear allegiance to any master; where the storm drives me I turn in for shelter.“
Nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri, quo me cumque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes.

„Let us live – we must die.“
Vivamus, moriendum est.

„It is wrong not to give a hand to the fallen; this law is universal to the whole human race.“
Iniquum est conlapsis manum non porrigere; commune hoc ius generis humani est.

„All things Death claims. To perish is not doom, but law.“
Omnia mors poscit. Lex est, non poena, perire.

„Some laws are not written, but are more decisive than any written law.“
Quædam iura non scripta, sed omnibus scriptis certiora sunt.

„Let us ease the Roman people of their continual care, who think it long to await the death of an old man.“
Liberemus diuturna cura populum Romanum, quando mortem senis exspectare longum censent. (Latin, not original language)

„Light propagates and spreads not only directly, through refraction, and reflection, but also by a fourth mode, diffraction.“
Lumen propagatur seu diffunditur non solum Directe, Refracte, ac Reflexe, sed etiam alio quodam quarto modo, Diffracte.

„Every animal is sad after coitus except the human female and the rooster.“
Triste est omne animale post coitum, praeter mulierem gallumque

„The best physician is also a philosopher.“
Quod optimus medicus sit quoque philosophus.

„I will either find a way, or make one.“
Aut viam inveniam aut faciam.

„Every cell from a cell.“
Omnis cellula e cellula

„Education is a treasure.“
Litterae thesaurum est.

„Necessity gives the law without itself acknowledging one.“
Necessitas dat legem non ipsa accipit.