Catullus (Caius Quintus Valerius Catullus) quote: "The most completely lost of all days is that on which one has not laughed. [Fr., La plus perdue de toutes les journees est celle ou l'on n'a pas rit.]"

I hate and I love. Perchance you ask why I do that. I know not, but I feel that I do and I am tor...
CATULLUS (CAIUS QUINTUS VALERIUS CATULLUS)

What is there given by the gods more desirable than a happy hour? [Lat., Quid datur a divis felici...
CATULLUS (CAIUS QUINTUS VALERIUS CATULLUS)

A day without laughter is a day wasted.
CATULLUS (CAIUS QUINTUS VALERIUS CATULLUS)

Every one has his faults: but we do not see the wallet on our own backs. [Lat., Suus quoque attr...
CATULLUS (CAIUS QUINTUS VALERIUS CATULLUS)

Nothing is more silly than silly laughter. [Lat., Nam risu inepto res ineptior nulla est.]
CATULLUS (CAIUS QUINTUS VALERIUS CATULLUS)

The confounding of all right and wrong, in wild fury, has averted from us the gracious favor of the...
CATULLUS (CAIUS QUINTUS VALERIUS CATULLUS)

Suns may set and rise again: for us, when our brief light has set, there's the sleep of one ever l...
CAIUS VALERIUS CATULLUS

I hate and I love: why I do so you may well ask. I do not know, but I feel it happen and am in agony...
CATULLUS

Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred,
Then another thousand, then a second hundred,
The...
CATULLUS

What a woman says to her lover should be written on air or swift water.
CATULLUS

It is difficult to lay aside a confirmed passion.
CATULLUS

So a maiden, while she remains untouched, remains dear to her own; but when she has lost her chaste ...
CATULLUS

I write of youth, of love, and have access by these to sing of cleanly wantonness
CATULLUS

There is nothing sillier than a silly laugh
CATULLUS

If a man can take pleasure in recalling the kindnesses he has done.
CATULLUS

O gods, grant me this in return for my piety.
CATULLUS

Poor Catullus, cease your folly and give up for lost what you see is lost.
CATULLUS

Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred, then a thousand more.
CATULLUS

My lady's sparrow is dead, the sparrow which was my lady's delight
CATULLUS

And forever, brother, hail and farewell!
CATULLUS

I hate and love - wherefore I cannot tell, but by my tortures know the fact too well
CATULLUS

It is difficult suddenly to put aside a long-standing love; it is difficult, but somehow you must do...
CATULLUS

What a woman says to her avid lover should be written in wind and running water.
CATULLUS

Now Spring restores the balmy heat, now Zephyr's sweet breezes calm the rage of the equinoctial sky.
CATULLUS

I can imagine no greater misfortune for a cultured people than to see in the hands of the rulers not...
CATULLUS

Rise up, lads, the evening is coming. The evening star is just raising his long-awaited light in hea...
CATULLUS

Let us live my Lesbia, and love, and value at one farthing all the talk of crabbed old men
CATULLUS

No more thy pains for others' welfare spend, Nor think by service to attach a friend: All are ungrat...
CATULLUS

Now he is treading that dark road to the place from which they say no one has ever returned.
CATULLUS

My mind's sunk so low, Claudia, because of you, wrecked itself on your account so bad already, that ...
CATULLUS

Most wretched men are cradled to poetry by wrong: they learn in suffering what they teach in song
CATULLUS

For the godly poet must be chaste himself, but there is no need for his verses to be so.
CATULLUS

Most wretched men are cradled to poetry by wrong: they learn in suffering what they teach in song
CATULLUS

soles occidere et redire possunt:
nobis cum semel occidit breuis lux,
nox est perpetu...
CATULLUS

I hate and love. And why, perhaps you’ll ask.
I don’t know: but I feel, and I’m tormented...
CATULLUS

There is nothing more silly than a silly laugh.
GAIUS VALERIUS CATULLUS

To open his lips is crime in a plain citizen.
QUINTUS ENNIUS

O friend unseen, unborn, unknown, Student of our sweet English tongue, I never indulge in poetics - ...
QUINTUS ENNIUS

Here is he laid to whom for daring deed, nor friend nor foe could render worthy meed.
QUINTUS ENNIUS

He hath freedom whoso beareth clean and constant heart within.
QUINTUS ENNIUS

They hate whom they fear.
QUINTUS ENNIUS

He whose wisdom cannot help him, gets no good from being wise.
QUINTUS ENNIUS

No one regards what is before his feet; we all gaze at the stars.
QUINTUS ENNIUS

No sooner said than done -- so acts your man of worth.
QUINTUS ENNIUS

One man restored our fortunes by delay. [By skilfully avoiding an engagement, Fabius exhausted the...
QUINTUS ENNIUS

Whom men fear they hate, and whom they hate, they wish dead. [Lat., Quem metuont oderunt, quem qui...
QUINTUS ENNIUS

May his body rest free from evil. [Lat., Corpus requiescat a malis.]
QUINTUS ENNIUS

Let no one weep for me, or celebrate my funeral with mourning; for I still live, as I pass to and fr...
QUINTUS ENNIUS

He who civilly shows the way to one who has missed it, is as one who has lighted another's lamp fro...
QUINTUS ENNIUS

Let no one weep for me, or celebrate my funeral with mourning; for I still live, as I pass to and f...
QUINTUS ENNIUS

Don't ask of your friends what you yourself can do.
QUINTUS ENNIUS

Amicu certus in re incerta cernitur'

[A true friend is a friend when in difficulty]
QUINTUS ENNIUS

They hate whom they fear
QUINTUS ENNIUS

He hath freedom whoso beareth clean and constant heart within
QUINTUS ENNIUS

Here is he laid to whom for daring deed, nor friend nor foe could render worthy meed
QUINTUS ENNIUS

No one regards what is before his feet; we all gaze at the stars
QUINTUS ENNIUS

To open his lips is crime in a plain citizen
QUINTUS ENNIUS

He whose wisdom cannot help him, gets no good from being wise
QUINTUS ENNIUS

A little moralizing's good - a little: I like a taste, but not a bath of it
QUINTUS ENNIUS

O friend unseen, unborn, unknown, Student of our sweet English tongue, I never indulge in poetics - ...
QUINTUS ENNIUS

Let no one weep for me, or celebrate my funeral with mourning; for I still live, as I pass to and fr...
QUINTUS ENNIUS

Valor, gradually overpowered by the delicious poison of sloth, grows torpid. [Lat., Blandoque ven...
CAIUS SILIUS ITALICUS

The fox changes his skin but not his habits. [Lat., Vulpem pilum mutare, non mores.]
CAIUS TRANQUILLUS SUETONIUS

Your laugh is of the sardonic kind.
CAIUS SEMPRONIUS GRACCHUS

It began of nothing and in nothing it ends. [Lat., Et redit in nihilum quod fuit ante nihil.]
CAIUS CORNELIUS GALLUS

Would that the Roman people had but one neck! [Lat., Utinam populus Romanus unam cervicem haberet!...
CAIUS TRANQUILLUS SUETONIUS

He [Caesar Augustus] found a city built of brick; he left it built of marble. [Lat., Urbem lateri...
CAIUS TRANQUILLUS SUETONIUS

If you want him to mourn, you had best leave him nothing.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

You often ask me, Priscus, what sort of person I should be, if I were to become suddenly rich and p...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

There is no living with thee, nor without thee.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

I would not miss your face, your neck, your hands, your limbs, your bosom and certain other of your ...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Conceal a flaw, and the world will imagine the worst.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

To be able to look back upon one's past life with satisfaction is to live twice.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

You give me nothing during your life, but you promise to provide for me at your death. If you are no...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Be content to be what you are, and prefer nothing to it, and do not fear or wish for your last day.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

I do not like the man who squanders life for fame; give me the man who living makes a name.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

If fame is to come only after death, I am in no hurry for it.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Why do strong arms fatigue themselves with frivolous dumbbells? To dig a vineyard is worthier exerci...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Glory comes too late, after one as been reduced to ashes.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Glory paid to our ashes comes too late.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Rarity gives a charm; so early fruits and winter roses are the most prized; and coyness sets off an ...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

That spot of earth has special charms for me, in which a limited income produces happiness, and mode...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

If your slave commits a fault, do not smash his teeth with your fists; give him some of the (hard) ...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

A cook should double one sense have: for he Should taster for himself and master be.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

I seem to you cruel and too much addicted to gluttony, when I beat my cook for sending up a bad din...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Such are thou and I: but what I am thou canst not be; what thou art any one of the multitude may b...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Every bird that upwards swings Bears the Cross upon its wings.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Birdes of a feather will flocke togither.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

The bee is enclosed, and shines preserved, in a tear of the sisters of Phaeton, so that it seems en...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

I pleaded your cause, Sextus, having agreed to do so for two thousand sesterces. How is it that yo...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

My suit has nothing to do with the assault, or battery, or poisoning, but is about three goats, whi...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

I have granted you much that you asked: and yet you never cease to ask of me. He who refuses noth...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

He who prefers to give Linus the half of what he wishes to borrow, rather than to lend him the whol...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Diaulus, lately a doctor, is now an undertaker' what he does as an undertaker, he used to do also a...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

When Fannius from his foe did fly Himself with his own hands he slew; Who e'er a greater madne...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Whoever makes great presents, expects great presents in return. [Lat., Quisquis magna dedit, volui...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Where McGregor sits, there is the head of the table.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Fortune gives too much to many, enough to none. [Lat., Fortuna multis dat nimis, satis nulli.]
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Since your legs, Phoebus, resemble the horns of the moon, you might bathe your feet in a cornucopia...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

While an ant was wandering under the shade of the tree of Phaeton, a drop of amber enveloped the ti...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

You praise, in three hundred verses, Sabellus, the baths of Ponticus, who gives such excellent dinn...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Why, simpleton, do you mix your verses with mine? What have you to do, foolish man, with writings ...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

A fisherman's walk: three steps and overboard.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

The swan murmurs sweet strains with a flattering tongue, itself the singer of its own dirge.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

You pursue, I fly; you fly, I pursue; such is my humor. What you wish, Dondymus, I do not wish, wh...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Some are good, some are middling, the most are bad. [Lat., Sunt bona, sunt quaedam mediocria, sunt...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Can the fish love the fisherman? [Lat., Piscatorem piscis amare potest?]
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

That which prevents disagreeable flies from feeding on your repast, was once the proud tail of a sp...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

There are many different voice and languages; but there is but one voice of the peoples when you ar...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Glory paid to our ashes comes too late. [Lat., Cineri gloria sera est.]
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Be merry if you are wise. [Lat., Ride si sapis.]
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Report says that you, Fidentinus, recite my compositions in public as if they were your own. If yo...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

My books need no one to accuse or judge you: the page which is yours stands up against you and say...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

You give me back, Phoebus, my bond for four hundred thousand sesterces; lend me rather a hundred th...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Why do strong arms fatigue themselves with frivolous dumb-bells? To dig a vineyard is a worthier e...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

To have nothing is not poverty. [Lat., Non est paupertas, Nestor, habere nihil.]
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Joys do not stay, but take wing and fly away. [Lat., Gaudia non remanent, sed fugitiva volant.]
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Why do strong arms fatigue themselves with frivolous dumbbells? To dig a vineyard is worthier exerci...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS

Never think of leaving perfumes or wine to your heir. Administer these yourself, and let him have ...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

See how the mountain goat hangs from the summit of the cliff; you would expect it to fall; it is me...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

When to secure your bald pate from the weather, You lately wore a cape of black neats' leather; ...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

You ask for lively epigrams, and propose lifeless subjects. What can I do, Caecilianus? You expec...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

And have you been able, Flaccus, to see the slender Thais? Then, Flaccus, I suspect you can see wh...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

You put fine dishes on your table, Olus, but you always put them on covered. This is ridiculous; i...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Do you wonder for what reason, Theodorus, notwithstanding your frequent requests and importunities,...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

You were constantly, Matho, a guest at my villa at Tivoli. Now you buy it--I have deceived you; I ...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Lycoris has buried all the female friends she had, Fabianus: would she were the friend of my wife!
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

I could do without your face, and your neck, and your hands, and your limbs, and your bosom, and ot...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

If you wish, Faustinus, a bath of boiling water to be reduced in temperature,--a bath, such as scar...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

In whatever place you meet me, Postumus, you cry out immediately, and your very first words are, "H...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

What's this that myrrh doth still smell in thy kiss, And that with thee no other odour is? 'Ti...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

"You are too free spoken," is your constant remark to me, Choerilus. He who speaks against you, Ch...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

You are pretty,--we know it; and young,--it is true; and rich,-- who can deny it? But when you prai...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

The book which you are reading aloud is mine, Fidentinus; but, while you read it so badly, it begin...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

You complain, Velox, that the epigrams which I write are long. You yourself write nothing; your at...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

The swifter hand doth the swift words outrun: Before the tongue hath spoke the hand hath done.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

A beau is one who arranges his curled locks gracefully, who ever smells of balm, and cinnamon; who ...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Fortune gives too much to many, enough to none.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

There is no glory in otustripping donkeys.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS

Gifts are like hooks.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS

Virtue extends our days: he live two lives who relives his past with pleasure.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS

Tomorrow's life is too late. Live today.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS

A man who lives everywhere lives nowhere.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS

The virtuous man is never a novice in worldly things.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS

It is feeling and force of imagination that make us eloquent.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS

Conceal a flaw, and the world will imagine the worst.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS

To-morrow you will live, you always cry; In what fair country does this morrow lie, That 'tis ...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

She grieves sincerely who grieves unseen. [Lat., Illa dolet vere qui sine teste dolet.]
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

If my opinion is of any worth, the fieldfare is the greatest delicacy among birds, the hare among q...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

However great the dish that holds the turbot, the turbot is still greater than the dish.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Whether woodcock or partridge, what does it signify, if the taste is the same? But the partridge i...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

See, how the liver is swollen larger than a fat goose! In amazement you will exclaim: Where could...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

As long as I have fat turtle-doves, a fig of your lettuce, my friend, and you may keep your shell-f...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Annius has some two hundred tables, and servants for every table. Dishes run hither and thither, a...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Mithriades, by frequently drinking poison, rendered it impossible for any poison to hurt him. You,...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Philo swears that he has never dined at home, and it is so; he does not dine at all, except when in...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

I am a shell-fish just come from being saturated with the waters of the Lucrine lake, near Baiae; b...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

You crystal break, for fear of breaking it: Careless and careful hands like faults commit.
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

In adversity it is easy to despise life; he is truly brave who can endure a wretched life. [Lat.,...
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

Work divided is in that manner shortened. [Lat., Divisum sic breve fiet opus.]
MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIAL

But are they heroes or mere dreamers?
GAIUS VALERIUS FLACCUS

The cowardly dog barks more violently than it bites. [Lat., Canis timidus vehementius latrat quam ...
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS (CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS)

Necessity when threatening is more powerful than device of man. [Lat., Efficacior omni arte immine...
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS (CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS)

A spark neglected has often raised a conflagration. [Lat., Parva saepe scintilla contempta magnum ...
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS (CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS)

A brave man's country is wherever he chooses his abode. [Lat., Patria est ubicumque vir fortis sed...
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS (CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS)

Nothing can be lasting when reason does not rule. [Lat., Nihil potest esse diuturnum cui non subes...
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS (CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS)

For my own part I am persuaded that everything advances by an unchangeable law through the eternal ...
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS (CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS)

Despair is a great incentive to honorable death. [Lat., Desperatio magnum ad honeste moriendum inc...
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS (CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS)

A cowardly cur barks more fiercely than it bites. [Lat., Canis timidus vehementius latrat quam mor...
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS (CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS)

Prosperity can change man's nature; and seldom is any one cautious enough to resist the effects of ...
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS (CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS)

Habit is stronger than nature. [Lat., Consuetudo natura potentior est.]
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS (CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS)

Posterity pays for the sins of their fathers. [Lat., Culpam majorum posteri luunt.]
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS (CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS)

That possession which we gain by the sword is not lasting; gratitude for benefits eternal. [Lat.,...
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS (CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS)

Covetous of another man's, prodigal of his own.
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS

By the wicked the good conduct of others is always dreaded.
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS

But few prize honour more than money.
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS

The deepest rivers flow with the least sound. [Lat., Altissima quaeque flumina minimo sono labuntu...
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS CURTIS RUFUS QUINTUS

During war, the laws are silent.
QUINTUS TULLIUS CICERO

Avoid any specific discussion of public policy at public meetings.
QUINTUS TULLIUS CICERO

Fear makes men believe the worst.
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS

A cowardly cur barks more fiercely than it bites.
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS

Truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by persuading.
QUINTUS SEPTIMIUS TERTULLIANUS

Out of the frying pan into the fire.
QUINTUS SEPTIMIUS TERTULLIANUS

To be turned from one's course by men's opinions, by blame, and by misrepresentation shows a man unf...
QUINTUS FABIUS MAXIMUS

A cowardly cur barks more fiercely than it bites
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS

A cowardly cur barks more fiercely than it bites.
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS

Cassius and Brutus were the more distinguished for that very circumstance that their portraits were...
TACITUS (CAIUS CORNELIUS TACITUS)

Posterity gives to every man his true honor. [Lat., Suum cuique decus posteritas rependet.]
TACITUS (CAIUS CORNELIUS TACITUS)

The most seditious is the most cowardly. [Lat., Seditiosissimus quisque ignavus.]
TACITUS (CAIUS CORNELIUS TACITUS)

The changeful change of circumstances. [Lat., Varia sors rerum.]
TACITUS (CAIUS CORNELIUS TACITUS)

By union the smallest states thrive, by discord the greatest are destroyed. [Lat., Concordia res ...
SALLUST (CAIUS SALLUSTIUS CRISPUS)

Every recreant who proved his timidity in the hour of danger, was afterwards boldest in words and t...
TACITUS (CAIUS CORNELIUS TACITUS)

Covetous of the property of others and prodigal of his own. [Lat., Alieni appetens sui profusus.]
SALLUST (CAIUS SALLUSTIUS CRISPUS)

When a woman has lost her chastity, she will shrink from no crime. [Lat., Neque femina amissa pud...
TACITUS (CAIUS CORNELIUS TACITUS)

Benefits are acceptable, while the receiver thinks he may return them; but once exceeding that, hat...
TACITUS (CAIUS CORNELIUS TACITUS)

Necessity makes even the timid brave. [Lat., Necessitas etiam timidos fortes facit.]
SALLUST (CAIUS SALLUSTIUS CRISPUS)

The Romans assisted their allies and friends, and acquired friendships by giving rather than receiv...
SALLUST (CAIUS SALLUSTIUS CRISPUS)

Other men have acquired fame by industry, but this man by indolence. [Lat., Utque alios industria...
TACITUS (CAIUS CORNELIUS TACITUS)

Rumor does not always err; it sometimes even elects a man.
TACITUS (CAIUS CORNELIUS TACITUS)

He (Tiberius) was wont to mock at the arts of physicians, and at those who, after thirty years of a...
TACITUS (CAIUS CORNELIUS TACITUS)

The most completely lost of all days is that on which one has not laughed. [Fr., La plus perdue de toutes les journees est celle ou l'on n'a pas rit.]

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Catullus (Caius Quintus Valerius Catullus)

The most completely lost of all days is that on which one has not laughed. [Fr., La plus perdue de toutes les journees est celle ou l'on n'a pas rit.]

Catullus (Caius Quintus Valerius Catullus)

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