Plautus Quotes

That which you know, know not; and that which you see, see not.

Little do you know what a gloriously uncertain thing law is.

Good things soon find a purchaser.

Your piping-hot lie is the best of lies.

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

To snatch the worm from the trap.

The woman who has the best perfume is she who has none.

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

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

If you say hard things you must expect to hear them in return.

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

You will not be a chip the richer.

Fire is next akin to smoke.

Ones oldest friend is the best.

Smooth words in place of gifts. [Lat., Dicta docta pro datis.]

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

Give assistance, and receive thanks lighter than a feather: injure a man, and his wrath will be like lead.

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

And so it happens oft in many instances; more good is done without our knowledge than by us intended. [Lat., Itidemque ut saepe jam in multis locis, Plus insciens quis fecit quam prodens boni.]

A man with courage has every blessing.

If you squander on a holyday, you will want on a workday unless you have been sparing.

It is good to love in a moderate degree; to distraction, it is not good; but to love to entire distraction, is the thing that my master's doing.

We are pouring our words into a sieve, and lose our labor. [Lat., In pertusum ingerimus dicta dolium, operam ludimus.]

Not every age is fit for childish sports.

If I can only keep my good name, I shall have riches enough.

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

It is our human lot, it is heaven's will, that sorrow follow joy.

We only appreciate the comforts of life in their loss.

That's a miserable and cursed word, to say I had, when what I have is nothing.

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

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

He is hailed a conqueror of conquerors. [Lat., Victor victorum cluet.]

He who would eat the kernel, must crack the shell. [Lat., Qui e nuce nucleum esse vult, frangat nucem.]

In wondrous ways do the gods make sport with men. [Lat., Miris modis Di ludos faciunt hominibus.]

He can do most who has most power.

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

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

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

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

It wasn't for nothing that the raven was just now croaking on my left hand.

Modesty should accompany youth.

That least pleases us which is most urged on us.

Find me a reasonable lover against his weight in gold.

This is the great evil in wine, it first seizes the feet; it is a cunning wrestler. [Lat., Magnum hoc vitium vino est, Pedes captat primum; luctator dolosu est.]

He that's in love, i' faith, even if he is hungry, isn't hungry at all.

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

A mouse relies not solely on one hole.

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

Whatever disgrace we may have deserved it is almost always in our power to re-establish our character.

One eye-witness is of more weight than ten hearsays.