Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
EnglishItalianoPolskiעבריתFrançaisPortuguêsفارسیEspañol中文РусскийDeutschالعربيةहिन्दी日本語ΕλληνικάLatina
Said between 100 and 1 BC
“Nunc iam nulla viro iuranti femina credat, nulla viri speret sermones esse fideles; quis dum aliquid cupiens animus praegestit apisci, nil metuunt iurare, nihil promittere parcunt: sed simul ac cupidae mentis satiata libido est, dicta nihil metuere, nihil periuria curant.”
Catullus (84–54 BC) said by 54 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Bear in mind, that if through toil you accomplish a good deed, that toil will quickly pass from you, the good deed will not leave you so long as you live; but if through pleasure you do anything dishonourable, the pleasure will quickly pass away, that dishonourable act will remain with you for ever.”
Cato the Younger (95–46 BC) said by 46 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: John C. Rolfe, ed. The Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius, Vol. 3, LCL 212 (1928), p. 131
“Idem velle atque idem nolle, ea demum firma amicitia est.”
Catiline (108–62 BC) first seen 86 BC wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted by Sallust (86 BC – c. 35 BC) in Catiline's War, Book XX, pt. 4 (trans. J. C. Rolfe)
Also quoted by: Gaius Sallustius Crispus (la)
“Sic volvenda aetas commutat tempora rerum. Quod fuit in pretio, fit nullo denique honore.”
Lucretius (94–55 BC) said by 55 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lines 1276–1277 (tr. Bailey)
“Pozzolana.—There is... a kind of powder which from natural causes produces astonishing results. It is found in the neighborhood of Baiae and in the country belonging to the towns round about Mt. Vesuvius. This substance when mixed with lime and rubble not only lends strength to buildings of other kinds, but even when piers of it are constructed in the sea, they set hard under water.”
Vitruvius (80–15 BC) said by 15 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Οὐκέτι παφλάζοντα διαΐσσων βυθὸν ἅλμης δελφίς, πτοιήσεις εἰναλίων ἀγέλας, οὐδὲ πολυτρήτοιο μέλος καλάμοιο χορεύων ὑγρὸν ἀναρρίψεις ἅλμα παρὰ σκαφίσιν οὐδὲ σὺ γ᾽, ἀφρηστά, Νηρηίδας ὡς πρὶν ἀείρων νώτοις πορθμεύσεις Τηθύος εἰς πέρατα. ἦ γὰρ ἴσον; πρηῶνι Μαλείης ὡς ἐκυκήθη, κῦμα πολυψάμμους ὦσέ σ᾿ ἐπὶ ψαμάθους.”
Aulus Licinius Archias (121–61 BC) said by 61 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Anthologia Palatina, vii, 214; "A Stranded Dolphin", as translated by A. J. Butler, Amaranth and Asphodel (1922), p. 46
“Go and get accurate information about the child. As soon as you have found him, report to me, so that I too may go & honor him.”
Herod the Great (74–4 BC) said by 4 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Paupertatem adeo facile perpessus est, ut de re publica nihil praeter gloriam ceperit.”
Cornelius Nepos (100–25 BC) said by 25 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Necessitas etiam timidos fortes facit.”
Sallust (86–35 BC) said by 35 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He ought to have worked at the oar before steering the vessel.”
Sulla (138–78 BC) said by 78 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Upon being handed the head of his enemy Gaius Marius the Younger; in William Smith, ed., A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1873), "Marius (II)". Variant: "First you must learn to pull an oar, only…
“Te matutinus flentem conspexit Eous, et flentem paulo vidit post Hesperus idem.”
Helvius Cinna (85–44 BC) said by 44 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Zmyrna, quoted by Servius, ad Vergili Georgica, I, 288 (, 35); J. C. Collins, Illustrations of Tennyson (1891), p. 27; J. C. Carr (Cornhill Magazine, vol. 41. p. 47) compares Alfred Tennyson, "Mariana", 13:Her tears fel…
“Saepius in libro numeratur Persius uno Quam levis in tota Marsus Amazonide.”
Domitius Marsus (51–18 BC) said by 18 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Martial, iv, 29, 7. On the epic poem Amazonis. Translated by Walter C. A. Ker, LCL 94 (1919)
“After this Alexander left Dareius's mother, his daughters, and his son in Susa, providing them with persons to teach them the Greek language, and marching on with his army on the fourth day reached the Tigris River.”
Diodorus Siculus (90–20 BC) said by 20 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 17.67.1, translated by C. Bradford Welles, LCL 422 (1963), p. 309
“Tene magis salvum populus velit an populum tu? servet in ambiguo, qui consulit et tibi et Urbi, Iuppiter.”
Lucius Varius Rufus (74–14 BC) said by 14 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From Panegyricus Augusti, quoted by Horace, Epistles, I, xvi, 27; , Satires, Epistles and Ars Poëtica (1869); see also: Norbert Guterman, A Book of Latin Quotations (1966), p. 118
“Divina Natura dedit agros, ars humana ædificavit urbes.”
Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BC) said by 27 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: W. D. Hooper & H. B. Ash, tr., On Agriculture (Harvard University Press, 1993). Bk. 3, ch. 1
“Nudus Amor formam non amat artificem.”
Propertius (47–16 BC) said by 16 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Debilem facito manu, debilem pede, coxo, tuber adstrue gibberum, lubricos quate dentis: vita dum superest, bene est.”
Gaius Maecenas (died 8 BC) said by 8 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Καὶ σύ, τέκνον;”
Julius Caesar (100–44 BC) said by 44 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Quodsi ea mihi maxime inpenderet tamen hoc animo fui semper, ut invidiam virtute partam gloriam, non invidiam putarem.”
Cicero (107–43 BC) said by 43 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nec iurare time: veneris periuria venti inrita per terras et freta summa ferunt. gratia magna Iovi: vetuit Pater ipse valere, iurasset cupide quidquid ineptus amor.”
Tibullus (51–16 BC) said by 16 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Marmoreo Licinus tumulo jacet, at Cato parvo, Pompeius nullo. Quis putet esse deos? Saxa premunt Licinum, levat altum Fama Catonem, Pompeium tituli. Credimus esse deos.”
Varro Atacinus (82–36 BC) said by 36 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The first two lines are an epigram from the Latin Anthology in reference to the magnificent tomb of one Licinus, the slave and steward of Julius Caesar. The two lines in answer are of more recent origin. — H. T. Riley, …
“Nigidius Figulus, Pythagoricus et magus, in exilio moritur.”
Nigidius Figulus (98–45 BC) first seen 45 BC wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Jerome, Chronicon, 1972 = 45 BC (Tr. Pearse et al.)
“Necesse est multos timeat quem multi timent.”
Decimus Laberius (106–43 BC) said by 43 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source