Latin quotes

Latin quotes with translation | page 6

“So in the dark of night a dense crowd of shepherds wards off a wolf from the steer he has caught.”
Sic densa lupum jam nocte sub atra arcet ab apprenso pastorum turba juvenco.

“Prayed for so oft, the dawn of fight is come.
No more entreat the gods: with sword in hand
Seize on our fates; and Caesar in your deeds
This day is great or little.”
Nil opus est uotis, iam fatum accersite ferro. in manibus uestris, quantus sit Caesar, habetis.

“For the glory of God is the living man, and the life of man is the vision of God.”
Gloria enim Dei vivens homo, vita autem hominis visio Dei.

“To flee vice is the beginning of virtue, and to have got rid of folly is the beginning of wisdom.”
Virtus est vitium fugere et sapientia prima stultitia caruisse.

“No one is so old as to think that he cannot live one more year.”
Nemo enim est tam senex qui se annum non putet posse vivere.

“Who can be forced has not learned how to die.”
Cogi qui potest nescit mori.

“That expression, "He means well," is useless unless he does well.”
Nequam illud verbum‘st, Bene vult, nisi qui bene facit.

“But when to-morrow comes, yesterday's morrow will have been already spent: and lo! a fresh morrow will be for ever making away with our years, each just beyond our grasp.”
Cum lux altera venit,<br/>iam cras hesternum consumpsimus; ecce aliud cras<br/>egerit hos annos et semper paulum erit ultra.

“Between a tyrant and a prince there is this single or chief difference, that the latter obeys the law and rules the people by its dictates, accounting himself as but their servant.”
Est ergo tyranni et principis hæc differentia sola, quod hic legi obtemperat, et ejus arbitrio populum regit, cujus se credit ministrum.

“No man can have a peaceful life who thinks too much about lengthening it.”
Nulli potest secura vita contingere qui de producenda nimis cogitat.

“Go now, go, but forget not the land that first folded you to its peaceful bosom; and from Colchis' conquered shores bring back hither thy sails, I pray thee, by this Jason whom thou leavest in my womb.”
I, memor i terrae, quae vos amplexa quieto prima sinu, refer et domitis a Colchidos oris vela per hunc utero quem linquis Iasona nostro.

“Some faults may claim forgiveness.”
Sunt delicta tamen quibus ignovisse velimus.

“None knows the reason why this curse
Was sent on him, this love of making verse.”
Nec satis apparet, cur versus factitet.

“If you are at Rome, live in the Roman style; if you are elsewhere, live as they live there.”
Si fueris Romae, Romano vivito more; Si fueris alibi, vivito sicut ibi.

“Our feeling about every obligation depends in each case upon the spirit in which the benefit is conferred; we weigh not the bulk of the gift, but the quality of the good-will which prompted it.”
Eo animo quidque debetur quo datur, nec quantum sit sed a quali profectum voluntate perpenditur.

“Constant practice devoted to one subject often prevails over both ability and skill.”
Adsiduus usus uni rei deditus et ingenium et artem saepe vincit.

“I do not trust my eyes to tell me what a man is: I have a better and more trustworthy light by which I can distinguish what is true from what is false: let the mind find out what is good for the mind.”
Oculis de homine non credo, habeo melius et certius lumen quo a falsis uera diiudicem: animi bonum animus inueniat.

“Meanwhile these islands, stiff with cold and frost, and in a distant region of the world, remote from the visible sun, received the beams of light, that is, the holy precepts of Christ, the true Sun, showing to the whole world his splendour, not only from the temporal firmament, but from the height of heaven, which surpasses every thing temporal, at the latter part, as we know, of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, by whom his religion was propagated without impediment, and death threatened to those who interfered with its professors.”
Interea glaciali figore rigenti insulae et velut longiore terrarum secessu soli visibili non proximae verus ille non de firmamento solum temporali sed de summa etiam caelorum arce tempora cuncta excedente universo orbi praefulgidum sui coruscum ostendens, tempore, ut scimus, summo Tiberii Caesaris, quo absque ullo impedimento delatoribus militum eiusdem, radios suos primum indulget, id est sua praecepta, Christus.

“And giving men power to steer their path across the sea with heaven as their guide.”
Et dedit aequoreos caelo duce tendere cursus.

“Leave all else to the gods.”
Permitte divis cetera.

“My father," said she, "is there any daughter that can love her father more than duty requires? In my opinion, whoever pretends to it, must disguise her real sentiments under the veil of flattery. I have always loved you as a father, nor do I yet depart from my purposed duty; and if you insist to have something more extorted from me, hear now the greatness of my affection, which I always bear you, and take this for a short answer to all your questions; look how much you have, so much is your value, and so much do I love you.”
"Est uspiam pater mi filia quae patrem suum plus quam patrem presumat diligere? Non reor equidem ullam esse quae hoc fateri audeat nisi iocosis veritatem celare nitatur. Nempe ego dilexi te semper ut patrem, et adhuc a proposito meo non divertor. Et si ex me magis extorquere insistis, audi cercudinem amoris quae adversum te habeo et interrogationibus tuis finem impone: et enim quantum habes tantum vales tantumque te diligo."

“Ambition prompted many to become deceitful; to keep one thing concealed in the breast, and another ready on the tongue; to estimate friendships and enmities, not by their worth, but according to interest; and to carry rather a specious countenance than an honest heart.”
Ambitio multos mortales falsos fieri subegit, aliud clausum in pectore, aliud in lingua promptum habere, amicitias inimicitiasque non ex re, sed ex commodo aestimare, magisque vultum quam ingenium bonum habere.

“For, among the world's incertitudes, this thing called arithmetic is established by a sure reasoning that we comprehend as we do the heavenly bodies. It is an intelligible pattern, a beautiful system, that both binds the heavens and preserves the earth. For is there anything that lacks measure, or transcends weight? It includes all, it rules all, and all things have their beauty because they are perceived under its standard.”
Haec enim quae appellatur arithmetica inter ambigua mundi certissima ratione consistit, quam cum caelestibus aequaliter novimus: evidens ordo, pulchra dispositio, cognitio simplex, immobilis scientia, quae et superna continet et terrena custodit. quid est enim quod aut mensuram non habeat aut pondus excedat? omnia complectitur, cuncta moderatur et universa hinc pulchritudinem capiunt, quia sub modo ipsius esse noscuntur.

“I shall also pass over the bygone times of our cruel tyrants, whose notoriety was spread over to far distant countries; so that Porphyry, that dog who in the east was always so fierce against the church, in his mad and vain style added this also, that "Britain is a land fertile in tyrants."”
Et tacens vetustos immanium tyrannorum annos, qui in aliis longe positis regionibus vulgati sunt, it ut Porphyrius rabidus orientalis adversus ecclesiam canis dementiae suae ac vanitatis stilo hoc etiam adnecteret: ""Britannia"", inquiens, ""fertilis provincia tyrannorum"".

“When a building is about to fall down, all the mice desert it.”
ruinis inminentibus musculi praemigrant...

“Seek first the virtues of the mind; and other things either will come, or will not be wanted”
Primum quaerite bona animi; caetera aut aderunt, aut non oberunt

“What though strength fails? Boldness is certain to win praise. In mighty enterprises, it is enough to have had the determination.”
Quod si deficiant vires, audacia certe Laus erit: in magnis et voluisse sat est.

“The old Romans had a custom which survived even into my lifetime. They would add to the opening words of a letter: "If you are well, it is well; I also am well." Persons like ourselves would do well to say. "If you are studying philosophy, it is well." For this is just what "being well" means. Without philosophy the mind is sickly.”
Mos antiquis fuit, usque ad meam servatus aetatem, primis epistulae verbis adicere 'si vales bene est, ego valeo'. Recte nos dicimus 'si philosopharis, bene est'. Valere enim hoc demum est. Sine hoc aeger est animus.

“If you are but content, you have enough to live upon with comfort.”
Si animus est aequus tibi, satis habes, qui bene vitam colas.

“Extreme law is often extreme injustice.”
Ius summum saepe summa est malitia.

“Is it not better to die in a glorious attempt, than, after having been the sport of other men's insolence, to resign a wretched and degraded existence with ignominy?”
Nonne emori per virtutem praestat quam vitam miseram atque inhonestam, ubi alienae superbiae ludibrio fueris, per dedecus amittere?

“Happy the state which in times of peace is yet prepared for war.”
Felix est illa civitas quae in pace bellum cogitat.

“Without Ceres (bread) and Bacchus (wine) Venus (love) freezes.”
Sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus

“Nothing becomes so offensive so quickly as grief. When fresh it finds someone to console it, but when it becomes chronic, it is ridiculed and rightly.”
Nulla res citius in odium venit quam dolor, qui recens consolatorem invenit et aliquos ad se adducit, inveteratus vero deridetur, nec inmerito.

“A large part of mankind is angry not with the sins, but with the sinners.”
Magna pars hominum est quae non peccatis irascitur, sed peccantibus.

“Be bold: Venus herself aids the stout-hearted.”
Audendum est: fortes adiuvat ipsa Venus.

“He who has injured thee was either stronger or weaker than thee. If weaker, spare him; if stronger, spare thyself.”
Aut potentior te aut inbecillior laesit: si inbecillior, parce illi, si potentior, tibi.

“He was ever first to undertake hardship.”
Primus sumpsisse laborem.

“Believe me, you will find more lessons in the woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you what you cannot learn from masters.”
Experto crede: aliquid amplius invenies in silvis, quam in libris. Ligna et lapides docebunt te, quod a magistris audire non possis.

“Drunkenness is nothing but voluntary madness.”
Nihil aliud esse ebrietatem quam voluntariam insaniam.

“I only pointed out the paths that lead
The panting youth to steep Parnassus' head,
And showed the tuneful Muses from afar,
Mixed in a solemn choir and dancing there.”
Ipse viam tantum potui docuisse repertam Aonas ad montes, longeque ostendere Musas Plaudentes celsae choreas in vertice rupis.

“For when you have once begun to serve the Goddess, you will then in a still higher degree enjoy the fruit of your liberty.”
Nam cum coeperis deae servire, tunc magis senties fructum tuae libertatis.

“Let each man pass his days in that wherein his skill is greatest.”
Qua pote quisque, in ea conterat arte diem.

“Courage in danger is half the battle.”
Bonus animus in mala re, dimidium est mali.

“Fire tries gold, misfortune tries brave men.”
Ignis aurum probat, miseria fortes uiros.

“My poems are naughty, but my life is pure.”
Lasciva est nobis pagina, vita proba.

“Whatever else may come to pass, I do not think that on the Day of Direst Judgement any race other than the Welsh, or any other language, will give answer to the Supreme Judge of all for this small corner of the earth.”
Nec alia, ut arbitror, gens quam haec Kambrica, aliave lingua, in die districti examinis coram Judice supremo, quicquid de ampliori contingat, pro hoc terrarum angulo respondebit.

“It is more easy to get a favor from Fortune than to keep it.”
Fortunam citius reperias quam retineas.

“A multitude of whelps came forth from the lair of this barbaric lioness, in three cyuls, as they call them, that is, in their ships of war.”
Tum erumpens grex catulorum de cubili laeanae barbarae, tribus, ut lingua eius exprimitur, cyulis, nostra longis navibus.

“As for me, I cease not to advocate peace. It may be on unjust terms, but even so it is more expedient than the justest of civil wars.”
Equidem ad pacem hortari non desino; quae vel iniusta utilior est quam iustissimum bellum cum civibus.

“Even so a crowd of nestlings, seeing their mother returning through the air afar, would fain go to meet her, and lean gaping from the edge of the nest, and would even now be falling, did she not spread all her motherly bosom to save them, and chide them with loving wings.”
Volucrum sic turba recentum, cum reducem longo prospexit in aere matrem, ire cupit contra summique e margine nidi extat hians, iam iamque cadat, ni pectore toto obstet aperta parens et amantibus increpat alis.

“Penitence follows hasty decisions.”
Velox consilium sequitur paenitentia.

“I should prefer uneloquent good sense to loquacious folly”
Malim equidem indisertam prudentiam quam stultitiam loquacem

“For the school of grammar has primacy: it is the fairest foundation of learning, the glorious mother of eloquence.”
Prima enim grammaticorum schola est fundamentum pulcherrimum litterarum, mater gloriosa facundiae.

“Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage.”
Taciturnitas stulto homini pro sapientia est.

“Extreme pride or dejection indicates extreme ignorance of self.”
Maxima superbia vel abjectio est maxima sui ignorantia.

“You praise, in three hundred verses, Sabellus, the baths of Ponticus, who gives such excellent dinners. You wish to dine, Sabellus, not to bathe.”
Laudas balnea versibus trecentis Cenantis bene Pontici, Sabelle. Vis cenare, Sabelle, non lavari.

“That is why we give to children a proverb, or that which the Greeks call Chreia, to be learned by heart; that sort of thing can be comprehended by the young mind, which cannot as yet hold more. For a man, however, whose progress is definite, to chase after choice extracts and to prop his weakness by the best known and the briefest sayings and to depend upon his memory, is disgraceful; it is time for him to lean on himself. He should make such maxims and not memorize them. For it is disgraceful even for an old man, or one who has sighted old age, to have a note-book knowledge. "This is what Zeno said." But what have you yourself said? "This is the opinion of Cleanthes." But what is your own opinion? How long shall you march under another man's orders? Take command, and utter some word which posterity will remember. Put forth something from your own stock.”
Ideo pueris et sententias ediscendas damus et has quas Graeci chrias vocant, quia complecti illas puerilis animus potest, qui plus adhuc non capit. Certi profectus viro captare flosculos turpe est et fulcire se notissimis ac paucissimis vocibus et memoria stare: sibi iam innitatur. Dicat ista, non teneat; turpe est enim seni aut prospicienti senectutem ex commentario sapere. 'Hoc Zenon dixit': tu quid? 'Hoc Cleanthes': tu quid? Quousque sub alio moveris? impera et dic quod memoriae tradatur, aliquid et de tuo profer.

“What colour are they now, thy quiet waters?
The evening star has brought the evening light,
And filled the river with the green hillside;
The hill-tops waver in the rippling water,
Trembles the absent vine and swells the grape
In thy clear crystal.”
Quis color ille vadis, seras cum propulit umbras<br/>Hesperus et viridi perfudit monte Mosellam!<br/>tota natant crispis iuga motibus et tremit absens<br/>pampinus et vitreis vindemia turget in undis.

“Let hopes and sorrows, fears and angers be,
And think each day that dawns the last you'll see;
For so the hour that greets you unforeseen
Will bring with it enjoyment twice as keen.”
Inter spem curamque, timores inter et iras, Omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum: Grata superveniet quae non sperabitur hora.

“Giraldus was the youngest of four blood-brothers. And when the three others in their childish games used to build castles and cities and palaces in the sands or mud, as a prelude to their future life, he, as a like prelude, always devoted himself entirely to building churches and to constructing monasteries.”
Qui cum ex fratribus quatuor germanis pariter et uterinis natu minor existeret, tribus aliis nunc castra nunc oppida nunc palatia puerilibus, ut solet haec aetas, praeludiis in sabulo vel pulvere protrahentibus construentibus, modulo suo, solus hic simili praeludio semper ecclesias eligere et monasteria construere tota intentione satagebat.

“That day was the day of Tydeus: from him they flee and tremble.”
Tydeos illa dies, illum fugiuntque tremuntque.

“Raise your half-buried countenance from the sudden shower of dust, Parthenope, and place your locks, singed by the mountains breath, on the tomb and body of your great foster son.”
Exsere semirutos subito de pulvere vultus, Parthenope, crinemque adflato monte sepultum pone super tumulos et magni funus alumni.

“Then empty rumour to well-grounded fear gave strength.”
Vana quoque ad veros accessit fama timores.

“Time heals all wounds.”
Diem adimere aegritudinem hominibus.

“Yet all does the sire himself ruthlessly condemn to the murky flames, and bid his own signs of rank be borne withal, if by their loss he may sate his devouring grief.”
Cuncta ignibus atris damnat atrox suaque ipse parens gestamina ferri, si damnis rabidum queat exaturare dolorem.

“He who would eat the kernel, must crack the shell.”
Qui e nuce nucleum esse vult, frangat nucem.

“A: I will now follow Reason whithersoever she shall lead me.”
A: Nunc rationem, quo ea me cumque ducet, sequar.

“As a mariner caught in a winter sea, to whom neither lazy Wain nor Moon with friendly radiance shows directions, stands clueless in mid commotion of land and sea, expecting every moment rocks sunk in treacherous shallows, or foaming cliffs with spiky tops to run upon the rearing prow.”
Ac velut hiberno deprensus navita ponto, cui neque Temo piger neque amico sidere monstrat Luna vias, medio caeli pelagique tumultu stat rationis inops, jam jamque aut saxa malignis expectat summersa vadis aut vertice acuto spumantes scopulos erectae incurrere prorae.

“No—foreign swords could never pierce so deeply.
The deadliest wounds are dealt by citizen hands.”
Nulli penitus descendere ferro contigit; alta sedent civilis volnera dextrae.

“Love is naked, and loves not beauty gained by artifice.”
Nudus Amor formam non amat artificem.

“The knights in [Britain] that were famous for feats of chivalry, wore their clothes and arms all of the same colour and fashion: and the women also no less celebrated for their wit, wore all the same kind of apparel; and esteemed none worthy of their love, but such as had given a proof of their valour in three several battles. Thus was the valour of the men an encouragement for the women's chastity, and the love of the women a spur to the soldier's bravery.”
Quicumque vero famosus probitate miles in eadem erat unius coloris vestibus atque armis utebatur facete etiam mulieres consimilia indumenta habentes. Nullius amorem habere dignabantur nisi tercio in milicia probates esset. Efficiebantur ergo caste et meliores et milites pro amore illarum probiores.

“We should read much, we should not read many books.”
Multum legendum esse, non multa.

“A huge dog, tied by a chain, was painted on the wall and over it was written in capital letters ‘Beware of the dog.”
Canis ingens, catena vinctus, in pariete erat pictus superque quadrata littera scriptum ‘Cave canem.’

“Every one is in a small way the image of God.”
Exemplumque dei quisque est in imagine parva.

“Labor is itself a pleasure.”
Labor est etiam ipse voluptas.

“Experience, that excellent master.”
Usus, magister egregius.

“I love truth, and wish to have it always spoken to me : I hate a liar. (translated by Thornton)”
Ego verum amo, verum vol mihi dici : mendacem odi.

“If, then, the things achieved by nature are more excellent than those achieved by art, and if art produces nothing without making use of intelligence, nature also ought not to be considered destitute of intelligence. If at the sight of a statue or painted picture you know that art has been employed, and from the distant view of the course of a ship feel sure that it is made to move by art and intelligence, and if you understand on looking at a horologe, whether one marked out with lines, or working by means of water, that the hours are indicated by art and not by chance, with what possible consistency can you suppose that the universe which contains these same products of art, and their constructors, and all things, is destitute of forethought and intelligence? Why, if any one were to carry into Scythia or Britain the globe which our friend Posidonius has lately constructed, each one of the revolutions of which brings about the same movement in the sun and moon and five wandering stars as is brought about each day and night in the heavens, no one in those barbarous countries would doubt that that globe was the work of intelligence.”
Si igitur meliora sunt ea quae natura quam illa quae arte perfecta sunt, nec ars efficit quicquam sine ratione, ne natura quidem rationis expers est habenda. Qui igitur convenit, signum aut tabulam pictam cum aspexeris, scire adhibitam esse artem, cumque procul cursum navigii videris, non dubitare, quin id ratione atque arte moveatur, aut cum solarium vel descriptum vel ex aqua contemplere, intellegere declarari horas arte, non casu, mundum autem, qui et has ipsas artes et earum artifices et cuncta conplectatur consilii et rationis esse expertem putare. [88] Quod si in Scythiam aut in Brittanniam sphaeram aliquis tulerit hanc, quam nuper familiaris noster effecit Posidonius, cuius singulae conversiones idem efficiunt in sole et in luna et in quinque stellis errantibus, quod efficitur in caelo singulis diebus et noctibus, quis in illa barbaria dubitet, quin ea sphaera sit perfecta ratione.

“When they come together to make music, the Welsh sing their traditional songs, not in unison, as is done elsewhere, but in parts, in many modes and modulations. When a choir gathers to sing, which happens often in this country, you will hear as many different parts and voices as there are performers.”
In musico modulamine, non uniformiter, ut alibi, sed multipliciter, multisque modis et modulis, cantilenas emittunt. Adeo ut in turba canentium, sicut huic genti mos est, quot videas capita, tot audias carmina discriminaque vocum varia.

“Fruitlessly doth he groan, beholding the face of the Colchian maid; then over all the mountain pain contracts his limbs, and all his fetters shake beneath her sickle.”
Gemit inritus ille Colchidos ora tuens. totos tunc contrahit artus monte dolor cunctaeque tremunt sub falce catenae.

“They wonder in silence and turn pale for the dubious thunderbolt.”
Mirantur taciti et dubio pro fulmine pallent.

“A man must rate public and permanent, above private and fleeting advantages and study how to render his benefaction most useful, rather than how he may bestow it with least expense.”
Oportet privatis utilitatibus publicas, mortalibus aeternas anteferre, multoque diligentius muneri suo consulere quam facultatibus.

“According to Cato the Elder, Scipio Africanus was wont to say that he was never less at leisure than when at leisure, nor less alone than when alone.”
P. Scipionem [...] dicere solitum scripsit Cato [...] numquam se minus otiosum esse, quam cum otiosus; nec minus solum, quam cum solus esset.

“The vulnerable points of Liberty now making her last stand on earth.”
Libertas ultima mundi quo steterit ferienda loco.

“Let the welfare of the people be the ultimate law.”
Salus populi suprema lex esto.

“Even so a shepherd, seeking safety for his flock, lures the wolves at night by the bleating of a tethered lamb into the pitfall masked by a slender covering of leafage.”
Haud secus ac stabulis procurans otia pastor in foveam parco tectam velamine frondis ducit nocte lupos positae balatibus agnae.

“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.

“Seething over inwardly
With fierce indignation,
In my bitterness of soul,
Hear my declaration.
I am of one element,
Levity my matter,
Like enough a withered leaf
For the winds to scatter.”
Estuans intrinsecus<br/>ira vehementi<br/>in amaritudine<br/>loquar meę menti:<br/>factus de materia<br/>levis elementi<br/>similes sum folio<br/>de quo ludunt venti.

“They will by this means receive their education where they receive their birth, and be accustomed from their infancy to inhabit and affect their native soil.”
Educentur hic qui hic nascuntur, statimque ab infantia natale solum amare frequentare consuescant.

“He allows very readily, that the eyes and footsteps of the master are things most salutary to the land.”
Oculos et vestigia domini, res agro saluberrimas, facilius admittit.

“Obsequiousness begets friends, truth hatred.”
Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit.

“It is difficult suddenly to lay aside a long-standing love.”
Difficile est longum subito deponere amorem.

“All these books were written by idle, unoccupied, ignorant men, the slaves of vice and filth. I wonder what it is that delights us in these books unless it be that we are attracted by indecency. Learning is not to be expected from authors who never saw even a shadow of learning. As for their story-telling, what pleasure is to be derived from the things they invent, full of lies and stupidity?”
Quos omnes libros conscripserunt homines otiosi, male feriati, imperiti, vitiis ac spurcitiae dediti, in queis miror quid delectet nisi tam nobis flagitia blandirentur. Eruditio non est exspectanda ab hominibus qui ne umbram quidem eruditionis viderant. Iam cum narrant, quae potest esse delectatio in rebus quas tam aperte et stulte confingunt?

“He who receives a benefit with gratitude, repays the first installment of it.”
Qui grate beneficium accipit, primam eius pensionem solvit.

“Who vaunts his race, lauds what belongs to others.”
qui genus iactat suum, aliena laudat.

“For they say that Aegina was carried by force from her father's stream.”
Namque ferunt raptam patriis Aeginan ab undis.

“But Juno and the virgin daughter of supreme Jove were sharing heart to heart their inmost counsels and distracting cares.”
At Iuno et summi virgo Iovis intima secum consilia et varias sociabant pectore curas.

“Whatsoever [Love] does, whithersoever she turns her steps, Grace follows her unseen to order all aright.”
Illam, quidquid agit, quoquo vestigia movit,<br/>componit furtim subsequiturque Decor.