Plautus Quotes

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

How bitter it is to reap a harvest of evil for good that you have done!
[Lat., Ut acerbum est, pro benefactis quom mali messem metas!]

Est etiam, ubi profecto damnum praestet facere, quam lucrum - there are occasions when it is certainly better to lose than to gain

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

Man's fortune is usually changed at once; life is changeable.
[Lat., Actutum fortunae solent mutarier; varia vita est.]

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

It is difficult to whistle and drink at the same time.

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

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

The sea is certainly common to all.

To snatch the worm from the trap.

Your wealth is where your friends are.

Consider the little mouse, how sagacious an animal it is which never entrusts its life to one hole only.

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.

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.

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

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

He whom the Gods love dies young.

The gods play games with men as balls

Drink, live like the Greeks, eat, gorge.

Where there are friends there is wealth.

A word to the wise is sufficient

What is yours is mine, and all mine is yours.

The prudent man really frames his own fortunes for himself.

Courage easily finds its own eloquence.

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

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

I seek the utmost pleasure and the least pain.

Worthy things happen to the worthy.

As long as she is wise and good, a girl has sufficient dowry.

A man with courage has every blessing.

Flight without feathers is not easy.

Every one can remember that which has interested himself.

To make any gain some outlay is necessary.

If you speak insults you will hear them also.

To love is human, it is also human to forgive.

Good things soon find a purchaser.

He who tries to protect himself from deception is often cheated, even when most on his guard.

I love truth and wish to have it always spoken to me: I hate a liar.
[Lat., Ego verum amo, verum volo mihi dici; mendacem odi.]

A woman smells well when she smells of nothing.

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

He is happy in his wisdom who has learned at another's expense.

Man is not man, but a wolf to those he does not know.

Arrogance is the outgrowth of prosperity.

It is good to love in a moderate degree; but it is not good to love to distraction.

A mouse relies not solely on one hole.

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

It is common to forget a man and slight him if his good will cannot help you.

It is easy to rule over the good.

To waste one's breath; to pump into a sieve.

Always bring money along with your complaints.

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

I trust no rich man who is officiously kind to a poor man.

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

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

Are you not accustomed to look at home, when you abuse others?

Food of Acheron. (Grave.)
[Lat., Pabulum Acheruntis.]

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

Know this, that troubles come swifter than the things we desire.

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

It is well for one to know more than he says.

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

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

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

Nothing is there more friendly to a man than a friend in need.

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

Conquered, we conquer.

I am undone! I have smashed the waggon. [I have ruined all.]

There are occasions when it is undoubtedly better to incur loss than to make gain.

You have eaten a meal dangerously seasoned. [You have laid up a grief in store for yourself.]

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

It is difficult to fly without wings.

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

Wisdom is not attained by years, but by ability.

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

You little know what a ticklish thing it is to go to law.
[Lat., Nescis tu quam meticulosa res sit ire ad judicem.]

I suspect that hunger was my mother.

He that would eat the nut must crack the shell.

He can do most who has most power.

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

How often the highest talent lurks in obscurity.

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

This is the great fault of wine; it first trips up the feet: it is a cunning wrestler.

It is best to know the worst at once.

The evil that we know is best.

Let deeds match words.

You drown him by your talk.

He who is most on his guard is often himself taken in.

Things unhoped for happen oftener than things we desire.

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

Your piping-hot lie is the best of lies.

Remind a man of what he remembers, and you will make him forget it.

He who seeks for gain, must be at some expense.

A mouse never entrusts his life to only one hole.

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

Courage in danger is half the battle.

Let not your expenditure exceed your income.

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

Man is no man, but a wolf

You will stir up the hornets.
[Lat., Irritabis crabones.]