Top 270 Quotes & Sayings by Plautus - Page 2

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

Every one can remember that which has interested himself.

A woman without paint is like food without salt.

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

It is easier to begin well than to finish well.

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

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.

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

Vulgarity of manners defiles fine garments more than mud.

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

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

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

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

In everything the middle road is best.

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

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.

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.]

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

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

One eye witness is better than ten hear sayers.

You love a nothing when you love an ingrate.

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

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

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

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

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

Worthy things happen to the worthy.

Man is no man, but a wolf

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

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

It is much easier to begin than to end.

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

Let not your expenditure exceed your income.

Your wealth is where your friends are

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

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

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

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

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

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

To make any gain some outlay is necessary.

Practice yourself what you preach.

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

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

He who dies for virtue does not perish.

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

Never speak ill of an absent friend.

Arrogance is the outgrowth of prosperity.

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

Feast today makes fast tomorrow

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

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 best to know the worst at once.

I seek the utmost pleasure and the least pain.

The prudent man really frames his own fortunes for himself.

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

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

All men love themselves.

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

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.