VESTIBULUM
PHILOSOPHIA
Sententiae et praecepta
Sentences et préceptes
Nous avons choisi ici
des sentences latines morales et philosophiques
à partir d'un
très riche site en anglais "Latin maxims",
et en proposons des
traductions en français
Traductions
françaises avec la collaboration de latinistes du Lycée
Marc Bloch :
Emmanuel
ANCELET, Claire CIERZNIAK, Boris EPP, Philippe NEFF, Pauline RAUSCHER,
Claire ROHFRITSCH
|
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
|
H |
I |
J |
L |
M |
N |
O |
|
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
"Acta
est fabula, plaudite."
La pièce
est jouée, applaudissez.
"Alea iacta est!"
Le sort en est
jeté.
The die is
cast!
(According to Suetonius, said by Julius Caesar when he crossed
the Rubicon.)
"Aliis si licet, tibi non licet."
Même si c'est permis pour d'autres,
ça ne l'est pas pour toi.
Even though it is permitted
for others, it isn't permitted for you.
Terence, Heautontimorumenos.
Cf. quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi et duo
cum faciunt idem, non est idem.
"Ars longa, vita brevis."
L'art est long, la vie est
courte.
Art is long, life is short.
(Seneca Philosophus, De brevitate vitae)
C
"Carpe diem!
"
Cueille le jour!
Seize the day!
(Horace, Carmina)
"Cogito, ergo sum."
Je pense, donc je suis.
I think, therefore I am.
(René Descartes, Discours de la méthode)
"Consuetudinis magna vis est."
Grande est la force de l'habitude.
The force of habit is great.
(Cicero, Tusculanae disputationes)
"Consuetudo quasi altera natura."
L'habitude est comme une seconde
nature.
Habit is our second nature.
(Cicero, De finibus)
"Contraria contrariis curantur."
L'opposé se soigne
par l'opposé.
The opposite is cured with
the opposite.
(Hippocrates)
D
"De nihilo nihil."
Rien ne naît de rien.
Nothing comes from nothing.
(Lucretius, De rerum natura)
"Docendo discimus."
C'est en enseignant qu'on
apprend.
We learn by teaching.
(After Seneca Philosophus, homines dum docent discunt - men learn
while they teach.)
"Dubitando ad veritatem venimus".
C'est en doutant qu'on parvient
à la vérité.
We arrive at the truth
being sceptical.
(Pierre Abélard, Sic
et non?)
"Dum inter homines sumus, colamus humanitatem".
Tant que nous sommes entre
êtres humains, cultivons notre humanité.
As long as we are among humans,
let us be humane.
(Seneca Philosophus, De ira)
"Dum spiro, spero".
Tant que je respire, j'espère.
While I breathe, I hope.
(Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum)
E
"Est deus in nobis".
Il est un dieu en nous.
There is a god inside us.
(Ovid, Fasti)
"Est quaedam flere voluptas".
Pleurer comporte une certaine
volupté.
There is a kind of pleasure
in crying.
(Ovid, Tristia)
"Exegi monumentum aere perennius".
J'ai élevé un
monument plus durable que l'airain. (Horace, Carmina, parlant
de son oeuvre poétique)
I have made a monument
more permanent than coppar.
(Horace, Carmina; referring to his poems.)
F
"Faber est suae quisque fortunae".
Chacun est l'artisan de sa
propre fortune . (au sens de destinée)
Every man is the artisan
of his own fortune.
(Appius Claudius Caecus)
H
"Haec ego non multis (scribo), sed tibi
: satis enim magnum alter alteri theatrum sumus".
Ce n'est pas à la multitude
que j'écris, mais à toi : car assez grand est le
théâtre que nous formons l'un pour l'autre.
I write this not to the
many, but to you only; for you and I are surely enough of an audience
for each other.
(Epicurus, quoted by Seneca Philosophus.)
"Homo homini lupus".
L'homme est un loup pour l'homme.
Man is man's wolf.
(Plautus, Asinaria)
"Horas non numero nisi serenas".
Je ne compte pas les heures
si ce n'est les sereines.
I count only the bright
hours.
(Inscription on ancient sundials.)
I
Indicit Scyllam qui vult vitare Charybdin.
Qui veut éviter Charybde
tombe sur Scylla. (cf "tomber de Charybe en Scylla"
= échapper à un danger pour se précipiter
aussitôt dans un autre...). Il s'agit de deux rochers monstrueux
rencontrés par Ulysse dans L'Odyssée.
He falls into Scylla's
hands who wants to avoid Charybdis.
(Gautier de Châtillon; from Homer, the Odyssee, and the
story about the sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis who flanked
a narrow strait and pulled down passing ships.)
Ira furor brevis est.
La colère est une folie
momentanée.
Anger is a brief insanity.
(Horace, Epistulae)
L
Liberae sunt nostrae cogitationes.
Nos pensées sont libres.
Our thoughts are free.
(Cicero, Pro Milone. Cf. Cogitationis poenam nemo patitur.)
Longum iter est per praecepta, breve et efficax
per exempla.
Le chemin est long par les
préceptes, mais court et efficace par les exemples.
The way is made long through
rules, but short and effective through examples.
(Seneca Philosophus, Epistulae)
Lupus in fabula.
Le loup est dans la fable.
(cf. quand on parle du loup...)
The wolf in the tale. (I.e.
speak of the wolf, and he will come)
(Terence, Adelphoe)
M
Margaritas ante porcos iacere.
Jeter des perles aux cochons.
(cf. donner de la confiture à des cochons)
Throw pearls before the
swines.
(Versio Vulgata, Matt. 7.6)
Mater artium necessitas.
Nécessité est
mère de l'invention.
Necessity is the mother
of invention.
(N/A)
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
C'est ma faute, c'est ma faute,
c'est ma très grande faute.
My fault, my fault, my
great fault
(From the Catholic confession.)
Mea mihi conscientia pluris est quam omnium
sermo.
Ma conscience me parle davantage
que tous les discours.
My conscience means more
to me than all speech.
(Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum)
Mendacem memorem esse oportet.
Il faut au menteur une grande
mémoire.
A liar needs a good memory.
(Quintilianus, De institutione oratoria)
Mendaci homini, ne verum quidem dicenti, credere
solemus.
Par habitude nous ne croyons
jamais un menteur, même lorsqu'il dit le vrai.
Liars aren't believed even
when they are telling the truth.
(Cicero, De divitatione)
Mens agitat molem.
L'esprit anime la matière.
The mind moves the matter.
(Vergil, Aenis)
Mens sana in corpore sano.
Un esprit sain dans un corps
sain.
A sound mind in a sound
body.
(Juvenalis, Saturae)
Mors ultima linea rerum est.
La mort est le terme ultime
de toutes choses.
Death is everything's final
limit.
(Horace, Epistulae)
Multos timere debet, quem multi timent.
Celui que beaucoup craignent
doit craindre beaucoup de monde.
He has to fear many who
is feared by many.
(Publilius Syrus, Sententiae. Also in Seneca Philosophus as necesse
est multos timeat, quem multi timent, "it is necessary for
him who is feared by many to fear many.")
Multum legendum esse, non multa.
Il faut lire beaucoup, et
non pas nécessairement beaucoup de livres.
You should read much, not
many (books).
(Pliny the Younger; often quoted only as multum non multa, "much,
not many".)
N
Natura abhorret a vacuo. (Horror
vacui.)
La nature a horreur du vide.
Nature abhors the void.
(The fear of the void.)
(Réné Descartes)
Natura non facit saltus.
La nature ne fait pas de sauts.
Nature doesn't make any
leaps.
(Carl von Linné, Philosophia botanica)
Nemo ante mortem beatus.
Personne n'est heureux avant
la mort.
Nobody should be called
happy before his death.
(Ovid, Metamorphoses)
Nemo autem regere potest nisi qui et regi.
Il n'est personne qui puisse
gouverner si ce n'est celui qui peut aussi être gouverné.
(= seul peut vraiment gouverner
celui qui peut aussi être gouverné)
But nobody can rule who
cannot also be ruled.
(Seneca Philosophus, De ira)
Nemo nascitur artifex.
Personne ne naît artiste.
Nobody is born an artist.
(N/A)
Nemo risum praebuit, qui ex se coepit.
Il ne prête pas à
rire celui sui commence par rire de lui-même.
Nobody is laughed at, who
laughs at himself.
(Seneca Philosophus, De providentia)
Ne quid nimis. MHDEN
AGAN.
Rien de trop.
Nothing in excess.
(Terence, Andria)
Noli turbare circulos meos!
Ne trouble pas mes calculs!
Don't upset my calculations!
(Said to have been Archimedes' words to a Roman soldier during
the conquest of Syracuse. The soldier answered by slaying him.)
Non mortem timemus, sed cogitationem mortis.
Ce n'est pas la mort que nous
redoutons, mais la pensée de la mort.
We do not fear death, but
the thought of death.
(Seneca Philosophus, Epistulae)
Non scholae sed vitae discimus.
Nous n' apprenons pas pour
l'école mais pour la vie.
We do not learn for school,
but for life.
(Seneca Philosophus, Epistulae)
Nosce te ipsum. GNWQI SAUTON.
Connais-toi toi-même.
Know thyself.
(Inscription at the temple of Apollo in Delphi.)
Nuda veritas.
La vérité nue.
The naked truth
(Horace, Carmina)
Nullum est iam dictum quod non dictum sit
prius.
Rien n'est dit qui n'ait pas
déjà été dit.
Nothing is said that hasn't
been said before.
(Terence, Eunuchus)
Numquam magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae
fuit.
Il n'a jamais existé
de grand génie qui ne comporte une part de folie.
There has never been a
great spirit without a touch of insanity.
(Seneca Philosophus, De tranquillitate animis)
Numquam se minus solum quam cum solus esset.
On n'est jamais moins seul
que dans la solitude.
You are never so little
alone as when you are alone.
(Pliny the Younger, Epistulae)
Nihil tam munitum quod
non expugnari pecunia possit.
Aucune forteresse n'est si
inexpugnable qu'elle ne puisse être prise avec de l'argent.
No fort is so strong that it cannot be taken with money.
(Cicero, In Verrem)
Nil admirari.
Ne s'étonner de rien.
(la condition du bonheur selon Horace)
To admire nothing.
(Horace, Epistulae; described as a condition for human happiness.)
Nil agit exemplum, litem quod lite resolvit.
Not much worth is an example that solves one quarrel with another.
(Horace, Satirae)
Nil desperandum!
Il ne faut désespérer
de rien.
Never despair!
(Horace, Carmina)
Noli equi dentes inspicere donati.
Do not look a gift horse in the mouth.
(St. Jerome, Commentarius in epistulam Pauli ad Ephesos)
Noli me tangere!
Don't touch me!
(Versio Vulgata, Ioh. 20.17)
Noli turbare circulos meos!
Don't upset my calculations!
(Said to have been Archimedes' words to a Roman soldier during
the conquest of Syracuse. The soldier answered by slaying him.)
Nomen et omen.
Name and omen (the name forebodes).
(Plautus, Persa)
Nomina si nescis, perit et cognitio rerum.
If you do not know the names, the knowledge about the things vanishes
as well.
(Carl von Linné, Critica botanica)
Nomina sunt odiosa.
Names are hateful.
(Cicero, Pro Roscio)
Non amo te, Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare:
hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te.
I do not like you, Sabid, but I can't say why:
I can only say this, I do not like you.
(Martialis, Epigrammaton liber)
Non est, crede mihi, sapientis dicere "Vivam." Sera
nimis vita est crastina: vive hodie.
Believe me, "I shall live" is not the saying of a wise
man. Tomorrow's life is too late: live today.
(Martialis, Epigrammata)
Non est vivere, sed valere vita est.
It is not to live but to be healthy that makes a life.
(Martialis, Epigrammata)
Non mortem timemus, sed cogitationem mortis.
We do not fear death, but the thought of death.
(Seneca Philosophus, Epistulae)
Non omne quod licet honestum est.
Not everything that is permitted is honest.
(Corpus Iuris Civilis: Digesta)
Non omne quod nitet aurum est.
Not all that glitters is gold.
(N/A)
Non omnia possumus omne.
Everybody cannot do everything.
(Vergil, Eclogae)
Non omnis moriar.
I will not die entirely.
(Horace, Carmina - in reference to his written work.)
Non scholae sed vitae discimus.
We do not learn for school, but for life.
(Seneca Philosophus, Epistulae)
Non sibi se soli natum meminerit (homo), sed patriae, sed suis.
(Aliis, non sibi.)
A man should remember that he is not born solely for his own sake,
but for his country, and for his family. (For others, not for
oneself.)
(Cicero, De finibus)
Non ut edam vivo, sed vivam edo.
I do not live to eat, but eat to live.
(Quintilianus, Instituitio oratoria)
Nosce te ipsum.
Know thyself
(Inscription at the temple of Apollo in Delphi.)
Nuda veritas
The naked truth
(Horace, Carmina)
Nulla regula sine exceptione.
No rule without exception.
(N/A)
Nulla res carius constat quam quae precibus empta est.
Nothing is so expensive as that which you have bought with pleas.
(Seneca Philosophus, De beneficiis)
Nullum esse librum tam malum ut non aliqua parte prodesset.
No book is so bad that no part of it is useful.
(Pliny the Younger, Epistulae)
Nullum est iam dictum quod non dictum sit prius.
Nothing is said that hasn't been said before.
(Terence, Eunuchus)
Numero deus impare gaudet.
God loves odd numbers.
(Vergil, Eclogae)
Numquam magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae fuit.
There has never been a great spirit without a touch of insanity.
(Seneca Philosophus, De tranquillitate animis)
Numquam non paratus.
Never unprepared.
(N/A)
Numquam se minus solum quam cum solus esset.
You are never so little alone as when you are alone.
(Cicero, De officiis)
O
Oderint, dum metuant.
May they hate me, if only they fear me.
(Suetonius, Vitae Caesarum, Caligula)
Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.
Nescio. Sed fieri sentio et excrucior.
I hate and I love. Perhaps you ask me why.
I don't know. But I feel, tormented, that it is so.
(Catulle, Carmina)
Odi profanum vulgus et arceo.
I loathe the uneducated mass and keep them away from me.
(Horace, Carmina. Hence the expression "vulgus profanum",
the uneducated mass.)
Oleum et operam perdidi.
I have wasted oil and toil.
(Plautus, Poenulus; the young girl's complaint about ointments
as beauty preparation, and Cicero, Ad Atticum; about the oil in
the reading lamp.)
Omen accipio.
I accept the omen. (A good omen.)
(Cicero, De divitatione.)
Omne ignotum pro magnifico est.
We have great notions of everything unknown.
(Tacitus, Agricola)
Omnes una manet nox.
The same night awaits us all.
(Horace, Carmina)
Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci.
He has won every vote who mingles profit with pleasure.
(Horace, Ars Poetica)
Omnia mea mecum porto.
All that is mine, I carry with me.
(Cicero, Paradoxa)
Omnia mutantur, nihil interit.
Everything changes, nothing perishes.
(Ovid, Metamorphoses)
Omnia vincit amor; et nos cedamus amori.
Love conquers all things; let us too surrender to love.
(Vergil, Eclogae)
Omnibus omnia.
Everything for everybody.
(Versio Vulgata, 1 Cor. 9.22)
Omnium rerum principia parva sunt.
Everything has a small beginning.
(Cicero, De finibus)
Optima enim est legum interpres consuetudo.
The best interpreter of the law, is practise.
(Corpus Iuris Civilis: Digesta)
O sancta simplicitas!
Oh, holy simplicity!
(Jan Hus)
O tempora! O mores!
O times! O customs!
(Cicero, In Catilinam)
Otium sine litteris mors est et hominis vivi sepultura.
Rest without reading is like dying and being buried alive.
(Seneca Philosophus, Epistulae)
P
Pacta sunt servanda.
Agreements are to be kept.
(Cicero, Philippicae Orationes)
Pars maior lacrimas ridet et intus habet.
You smile at your tears but have them in your heart.
(Martialis, Epigrammaton liber)
Paete, non dolet.
It doesn't hurt, Paetus.
(Acc. to Plinius, Epistulae, the Roman woman Arria's words to
her husband Caecina Paetus, who had taken part in an uprising
against Emperor Claudius and been sentenced to commit suicide.
When her husband hesitated, she plunged the dagger into her own
chest and then gave it to him with these words.)
Pater patriae.
Father of the country.
(Cicero, Pro Sestio. Honorific given to Cicero after the conflict
with Catiline in 63 B.C.)
Pater, peccavi.
Father, I have sinned.
(Versio Vulgata, Luc. 15.17)
Peccavi!
I have Sindh/sinned!
(British general Sir Charles James Napier sent this message to
his commanding officer, Lord Ellenborough, after he had captured
Sindh, in modern Pakistan.)
Per aspera ad astra.
Through difficulties to the stars.
(Origin unknown; Seneca Philosophus, Hercules)
Periculum in mora.
Danger in delay
(Livy, Ab urbe condita)
Perierat totus orbis, nisi iram finiret misericordia.
The entire world would have perished unless compassion had limited
the hatred.
(Seneca Rhetor, Controversiae)
Pessimus inimicorum genus, laudantes.
The worst kind of enemies, those who can praise.
(Tacitus, Agricola)
Pisces natare oportet.
Fish has to swim (i.e. when you eat fish, you have to drink).
(Petronius Arbiter, Satiricon)
Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate.
Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.
(Principle known as Occam's Razor, used for example in physics.)
Post festum.
After the feast (i.e. too late)
(Plato, Gorgias)
Potius sero quam numquam.
It's better late than never.
(Livy, Ab urbe condita)
Praeterea censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.
Furthermore, I believe Carthage should be destroyed.
(Cato the Elder. After a journey to Carthage, the Roman senator
concluded every speech before the senate with this phrase, no
matter the topic of discussion.)
Primum est non nocere.
First of all, do no harm.
(Hippocrates; The maxim has become an ethical guiding principle
in medicine.)
Primus inter pares.
First among equals.
(Used about someone who is the first in a group without having
any authority over his/her colleagues, e.g. the Swedish archbishop.)
Promoveatur ut amoveatur.
Let him be promoted to get him out of the way.
(N/A)
Proximus sum egomet mihi.
I am closest to myself. (Charity begins at home.)
(Terence, Andria)
Q
Qualis rex, talis grex.
Like master, like man.
(N/A)
Quam bene vivas refert, non quam diu.
The important thing isn't how long you live, but how well you
live.
(Seneca Philosophus, Epistulae)
Quam multa non desidero.
How much there is that I do not want.
(Cicero, Tusculanae disputationes)
Quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus.
Sometimes, even the good Homer slumbers.
(Horace, Ars poetica)
Quem di diligunt adolescens moritur.
He whom the gods love dies young.
(Plautus, Bacchides)
Quia natura mutari non potest idcirco verae amicitiae sempiternae
sunt.
Since nature cannot change, true friendships are eternal.
(Horace)
Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.
Let him who wishes for peace prepare for war.
(Vegetius. Also quoted si vis pacem, para bellum - if you desire
peace, prepare for war.)
Qui dormit, non peccat.
One who sleeps doesn't sin.
(N/A)
Quid me nutruit me destruit.
That which nourishes me, destroys me.
(N/A)
Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur.
Why are you laughing? Change the name and the story is about you.
(Horace, Satirae)
Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.
Whatever this may be, I fear the Greeks even when they're bringing
gifts.
(Vergil, Aenis. The priest Laokoon's warning when seeing the Trojan
horse.)
Qui genus jactat suum, aliena laudat.
He who boasts of his descent, praises the deeds of another.
(Seneca Philosophus, Hercules furens)
Qui ignorabat, ignorabitur.
One who is ignorant will remain unnoticed.
(N/A)
Qui nimium probat, nihil probat.
One who proves too much, proves nothing.
(N/A)
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Who is to guard the guards themselves?
(Iuvenalis, Saturae)
Qui tacet, consentit
Silence gives consent.
(N/A)
Quis, quid, ubi, quibus auxiliis, cur, quomodo, quando?
Who, what, where, with what, why, how, when?
(N/A)
Qui statuit aliquid parte inaudita altera, aequum licet statuerit.
One who passes sentence on something without having heard the
other part isn't juste, even if the sentence is juste.
(Seneca Philosophus, Medea. Cf. audiatur et altera pars.)
Quod bonum, felix faustumque sit!
May it be good, fortunate and prosperous!
(Words spoken when the Roman senate opened its session. Quoted
by Cicero in De divitatione)
Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi.
What Jupiter may do, the ox may not.
(I.e., what is permitted for a high-ranking person isn't permitted
for everybody. Cf. aliis si licet, tibi non licet. and duo cum
faciunt idem, non est idem.)
Quod scripsi, scripsi.
What I have written, I have written.
(Versio Vulgata, Ioh. 19.22)
Quousque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra?
How long now, Catiline, will you abuse our patience?
(Cicero, In Catilinam. The beginning of Cicero's first speech
against Catiline.)
Quo vadis, Domine?
Where are you going, Lord?
(Question said to be asked by Peter when he, fleeing the Rome
and the persecutions of the Christians by emperor Nero, met Jesus
at the city gates.)
R
Relata refero.
I tell what I have been told.
(Herodotos)
Respice post te, mortalem te esse memento.
Look around you, remember that you are mortal.
(According to Tertullianus, words whispered by a slave when his
master entered Rome in triumph after winning a battle.)
Rem tene, verba sequentur.
Keep to the subject and the words will follow.
(Cato the Elder, acc. to Iulius Victor)
Rerum concordia discors.
The concord of things through discord.
(Horace, Epistulae)
Res severa est verum gaudium.
True joy is a serious thing.
(Seneca Philosophus, Epistulae)
Ridentem dicere verum, quid vetat?
What prohibits us to tell the truth laughing (through a joke)?
(Horace, Satirae)
S
Saepe creat molles aspera spina rosas.
Often the prickly thorn produces tender roses
(Ovid)
Salus populi suprema lex esto.
Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law.
(Cicero, De legibus)
Sapere aude!
Dare to be wise!
(Horace, Epistulae)
Satius est impunitum relinqui facinus nocentis, quam innocentem
damnari.
It is better that a crime is left unpunished than that an innocent
man is punished.
(Corpus Iuris Civilis: Digesta)
Sat sapienti.
Enough for a wise man.
(Plautus, Persa)
Sed fugit interae, fugit irreparabile tempus.
But meanwhile, the irreplaceable time escapes.
(Vergil, Georgica. Usually, you only quote the last three words.)
Semper idem.
Always the same.
(Cicero, Tusculanae disputationes. Said to have been Xantippa's
words about Socrates' facial expression.)
Serva me, servabo te.
Save me and I will save you.
(Petronius Arbiter)
Sic itur ad astra.
Thus, you go to the stars (i.e. gain reputation)
(Vergil, Aenis)
Sic transit gloria mundi.
Thus departs the glory of the world.
(Words said when a newly elected pope entered St. Peter's Basilica
in Rome.)
Sic volo, sic iubeo.
I want this, I order this.
(Juvenalis, Saturae)
Silent enim leges inter arma.
Laws are silent in times of war.
(Cicero, Pro Milone.)
Sine ira et studio.
Without anger or bias.
(Tacitus, Annales)
Si tacuisses, philosophus manisses.
If you had kept quiet, you would have remained a philosopher.
(Boethius, De consolatione philosophiae)
Sit venia verbo.
Let the word be allowed. (If I may say so.)
(A rephrasal of venia sit dicto, the said should be allowed; Pliny
the Younger, Epistulae.)
Si vis amari, ama.
If you want to be loved, love
(Seneca Philosophus, Epistulae)
Solitudinem fecerunt, pacem appelunt.
They made a desert and called it peace.
(Tacitus, Histories)
Spemque metumque inter dubiis.
Hover between hope and fear.
(Vergil, Aenis)
S.P.Q.R. (Senatus Populusque Romanus)
The Senate and the Roman people
(Abbreviation used on banners and the like in ancient Rome to
show the world the unity between the Roman people and its rulers.
Still officially used in Rome.)
Stat magni nominis umbra.
He stands in the shadow of a great name.
(Lucanus, Pharsalia. Said about Pompey.)
Stat sua cuique dies, breve et irreparabile tempus omnibus est
vitae.
The day is decided for each and everyone, the lifespan is short
and irreplacable for everybody.
(Vergil, Aenis)
Stultum est timere quod vitare non potes.
It is foolish to fear what you cannot avoid.
(Publilius Syrus)
Summum ius, summa iniuria.
The extreme law is the greatest injustice.
(Cicero, De officiis)
Suum cuique.
To each and every one his own.
(Cicero, De officiis)
Suus cuique mos.
Everyone has his customs.
(Gellius, Noctes Atticae)
T
Tamdiu discendum est, quamdiu vivas.
We should learn as long as we may live. (We live and learn.)
(Seneca Philosophus, Epistulae)
Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis.
The times change, and we change with them.
(John Owen)
Tempora quid faciunt.
The times do change.
(Martialis, Epigrammaton liber)
Tetigisti acu.
You have hit the nail on the head.
(Plautus, Rudens)
U
Ubi bene, ibi patria.
Where one is happy, there is one's homeland.
(Pacuvius, Teucer)
Ultima ratio regum.
The last argument of kings.
(Inscription on French canons in the times of Louis XIV.)
Unus multorum.
One of many.
(Horace, Satirae)
Unus sed leo.
One, but (it is) a lion.
(Translated from Aesop. The lioness to the vixen who boasted about
her having many cubs when the lioness only had one.)
Urbi et orbi.
To the city (Rome) and the world.
(Words usually pronounced by the Pope during his blessing, to
make it clear that they will spread to all the world.)
Urbs aeterna.
The eternal city (i.e. Rome)
(Tibullus)
Ut desint vires, tamen est laudanda voluntas.
Although the power is lacking, the will is commendable.
(Ovid, Ex Ponto)
Ut sementem feceris, ita metes.
As you sow, so shall you reap.
(Cicero, De oratore.)
Uva uvam vivendo varia fit.
A grape changes colour (ripens) when it sees (another) grape.
(This phrase derives from a scholia to Juvenal and is actually
a misquotation of uvaque conspecta livorem ducit ab uva - a grape
assumes a sickly hue from a nearby grape.)
V
Vae victis!
Woe to the conquered!
(Livy, Praefatio)
Vare, legiones redde!
Varus, give me back my legions!
(Acc. to Suetonius, exclaimed by Emperor Augustus when he heard
that his governor Quintilius Varus and three entire legions had
been killed in an ambush in the Teutoburger Forest.)
Variatio delectat
There's nothing like change!
(Cicero, De divinatione)
Veni, vidi, vici.
I came, I saw, I conquered.
(Written by Julius Caesar about his rapid victory in the Battle
of Zela.)
Vera esse facimus nosmet ipsi.
We ourselves create the truth.
(N/A)
Verba volant, (littera) scripta manet.
Words fly away, the written (letter) remains.
(N/A)
Veritas vos liberabit.
The truth will set you free.
(Versio Vulgata, Ioh. 8.32)
Vestigia terrent.
The footprints frighten me.
(Horace, Epistulae. From a story about a fox who saw footprints
lead into, but not out of a lion's den.)
Vestis virum reddit.
The clothes make the man.
(Quintilianus?)
Videant consules ne quid detrimenti capiat respublica.
May the (Roman) consuls see to that no damage comes to the state.
(Phrase that gave the Roman consuls absolute power when the state
was in a severe crisis. Quoted by Cicero in In Catilinam. )
Vincere scis, Hannibal, victoria uti nescis.
You know how to be victorious, Hannibal, but not how to take advantage
of victory.
(According to Livy, words said by Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal
when Hannibal did not attack Rome immediately after his victory
at Cannae.)
Virtus est medium vitiorum.
Virtue is a middle course between vices.
(Horace, Epistulae)
Vitiis nemo sine nascitur.
No-one is born without faults.
(Horace, Satirae)
Vivere est cogitare.
To live is to think.
(Cicero, Tusculanae disputationes)
Vox populi, vox Dei.
The voice of the people is the voice of God.
(Translated from Homer, The Odyssey)
Vulnerant omnes,ultima necat.
All of them wound, the last one kills.
(In reference to the hours; old inscription found on clocks in
churches and public spaces.)
To Top
(Cicero, De officiis)