Plautus quotes

Without feathers it isn't easy to fly: my wings have got no feathers. [Lat., Sine pennis volare hau facilest: meae alae pennas non habent.] [Alt., Flying without feathers is not easy; my wings have no feathers.]

He gains wisdom in a happy way, who gains it by another's experience. [Lat., Feliciter sapit qui alieno periculo sapit.]

If you are wise, be wise; keep what goods the gods provide you.

The man who would be fully employed should procure a ship or a woman, for no two things produce more trouble.

Let deeds match words.

No man will be respected by others who is despised by his own relatives.

Woman is certainly the daughter of Delay personified!

You must spend money, if you wish to make money.

If you do anything well, gratitude is lighter than a feather; if you give offense in anything, people's wrath is as heavy as lead.

It is wisdom to think upon anything before we execute it.

Let deeds correspond with words. [Lat., Dictis facta suppetant.]

And one eye-witness weighs More than ten hear-fays. Seeing is believing, All the world o'er.

The day, water, sun, moon, night - I do not have to purchase these things with money.

Arrogance is the outgrowth of prosperity.

All men love themselves.

It is wretched business to be digging a well just as thirst is mastering you.

He who has in due season become rich, unless he saves in due season, will in due season starve.

No man is wise enough by himself.

Disgrace is immortal, and living even when one thinks it dead.

I am myself my own commander. [Lat., Egomet sum mihi imperator.]

No blessing lasts forever.

In everything the middle course is best: all things in excess bring trouble to men. [Lat., Modus omnibus in rebus, soror, optimum est habitu; Nimia omnia nimium exhibent negotium hominibus ex se.]

He is a friend who, in dubious circumstances, aids in deeds when deeds are necessary.

One eye witness is better than ten hear sayers.

It is a great plague to be too handsome a man. [Lat., Nimia est miseria nimis pulchrum esse hominem.]

Virtue is the highest reward. Virtue truly goes before all things. Liberty, safety, life, property, parents, country, and children are protected and preserved. Virtue has all things in herself; he who has virtue has all things that are good attending him. [Lat., Virtus praemium est optimum. Virtus omnibus rebus anteit profecto. Libertas, salus, vita, res, parentes, Patria et prognati tutantur, servantur; Virtus omnia in se habet; omnia assunt bona, quem penes est vertus.]

It is much easier to begin than to end.

'He means well' is useless unless he does well.

Things we do not expect, happen more frequently than we wish.

A mouse never entrusts his life to only one hole.

Every man, however wise, needs the advice of some sagacious friend in the affairs of life.

It is a bitter disappointment when you have sown benefits, to reap injuries.

Even the whole of life is not sufficient for thorough learning.

He who falls in love meets a worse fate than he who leaps from a rock.

I had much rather be adorned by beauty of character than by jewels. Jewels are the gift of fortune, character comes from within.

It is easier to begin well than to finish well.

The gods play games with men as balls.

Your tittle-tattlers, and those who listen to slander, by my good will should all be hanged - the former by their tongues, the latter by the ears.

How often we see the greatest genius buried in obscurity!

It is not without a purpose when a rich man greets a poor one with kindness.

We can more easily endure that which shames than that which vexes us.

Courage easily finds its own eloquence.

Your wealth is where your friends are

No guest is so welcome in a friend's house that he will not become a nuisance after three days.

If you speak insults you will hear them also.

Where there are sheep, the wolves are never very far away.

Men understand the worth of blessings only when they have lost them.

Never speak ill of an absent friend.

The gods confound the man who first found out How to distinguish hours! Confound him, too, Who in this place set up a sun-dial, To cut and hack my days so wretchedly Into small portions.

There's no such thing, you know, as picking out the best woman: it's only a question of comparative badness, brother.

Do you never look at yourself when you abuse another person?

He whom the gods love dies young, while he is in health, has his senses and his judgments sound.

Good merchandise, even hidden, soon finds buyers.

Love has both its gall and honey in abundance: it has sweetness to the taste, but it presents bitterness also to satiety.

The gods give that man some profit to whom they are propitious. [Lat., Cui homini dii propitii sunt aliquid objiciunt lucri.]

You love a nothing when you love an ingrate.

To an honest man, it is an honor to have remembered his duty.

Good courage in a bad affair is half of the evil overcome.

It is best to know the worst at once.

If you want to do something, do it!

Where there are friends there is wealth.

He who rushes headlong into love will fare worse than if he had cast himself from a precipice.

The poor man who enters into a partnership with one who is rich makes a risky venture.

If anything is spoken in jest, it is not fair to turn it to earnest.

In everything the middle course is the best; everything in excess brings trouble.

If you have overcome your inclination and not been overcome by it, you have reason to rejoice.

It is not fair to treat as serious that which is only said in joke.

I seek the utmost pleasure and the least pain.

Feast today makes fast tomorrow

The stronger always succeeds.

Courage is to take hard knocks like a man when occasion calls.

The prudent man really frames his own fortunes for himself.

That man will never be unwelcome to others who makes himself agreeable to his own family.

To a well deserving person God will show favor. To an ill deserving person He will simply be just.

To make any gain some outlay is necessary.

What you lend is lost; when you ask for it back, you may find a friend made an enemy by your kindness. If you begin to press him further, you have the choice of two things - either to lose your loan or lose your friend.

Every one can remember that which has interested himself.

A woman without paint is like food without salt.

He who bravely endures evils, in time reaps the reward.

Courage is what preserves our liberty, safety, life, and our homes and parents, our country and children. Courage comprises all things.

Practice yourself what you preach.

He who dies for virtue does not perish.

How great in number are the little minded men

Worthy things happen to the worthy.

Man is no man, but a wolf

Nothing is more wretched than the mind of a man conscious of guilt.

I have taken a wife, I have sold my sovereignty for a dowry. [Lat., Uxorem accepi, dote imperium vendidi.]

Things which you do not hope happen more frequently than things which you do hope.

Laws are subordinate to custom.

Not by age but by capacity is wisdom acquired.

Riches, rightly used, breed delight.

In misfortune if you cultivate a cheerful disposition you will reap the advantage of it.

No man has perpetual good fortune. [Lat., Nulli est homini perpetuum bonum.]

A man with courage has every blessing.

Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words.

Poverty is a thorough instructress in all the arts. [Lat., Paupertas . . . omnes artes perdocet.]

There are games in which it is better to lose than win.

Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend.

In grasping at uncertainties we lost that which is certain.

There is indeed a God that hears and sees whate'er we do. [Lat., Est profecto deus, qui, quae nos gerimus, auditque et videt.]

Nothing is more annoying than a tardy friend. [Lat., Tardo amico nihil est quidquam iniquius.]

Vulgarity of manners defiles fine garments more than mud.

Know not what you know, and see not what you see. [Lat., Etiam illud quod scies nesciveris; Ne videris quod videris.]

That wife is an enemy to her husband who is given in marriage against her will.

That man is worthless who knows how to receive a favor, but not how to return one.

Always bring money along with your complaints.

There can be no profit, if the outlay exceeds it. [Non enim potest quaestus consistere, si eum sumptus superat.]

Unexpected results are the rule rather than the exception.

In everything the middle road is best.

If you are content, you have enough to live comfortably.

A contented mind is the best source for trouble.

Women have many faults, but the worst of them all is that they are too pleased with themselves and take too little pains to please the men.

I regard that man as lost, who has lost his sense of shame.

A word to the wise is sufficient

It is customary these days to ignore what should be done in favour of what pleases us.

A mouse does not rely on just one hole.

To ask that which is unjust at the hands of the just, is an injustice in itself; to expect that which is just from the unjust, is simple folly.

Let a man who wants to find abundance of employment procure a woman and a ship: for no two things do produce more trouble if you begin to equip them; neither are these two things ever equipped enough.

Let not your expenditure exceed your income.

A well-balanced mind is the best remedy against affliction.

Patience is the best remedy for every trouble.

Ah yes, the gods use us mortals as footballs!

Feast to-day makes fast to-morrow. [Lat., Festo die si quid prodegeris, Profesto egere liceat nisi peperceris.]

Conquered, we conquer.

It is only when we have lost them that we fully appreciate our blessings.