Plautus quotes
Plautus (254 BC–184 BC): Roman comic playwright. The library holds 117 quotes by Plautus, drawn from Aulularia, Trinummus, Mostellaria and other works. The 60 below are the most quoted; search the library in the maker for the rest.
Often about: life, money, time, love, friendship, faith
The best-known Plautus quotes
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It was not for nothing that the raven was just now croaking on my left hand.
Aulularia, Act iv. Sc. 3, 1. (624.) -
You ought to obtain what you ask, as you only ask what is fair.
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I have received money, and sold my authority for her dowry.
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He will never be disagreeable to others who makes himself agreeable to his own relations.
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These things are not for the best, nor as I think they ought to be; but still they are better than that which is downright bad.
Trinummus, Act ii. Sc. 2, 111. (392.) -
To do good to the bad is a danger just as great as to do bad to the good.
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He does nothing who seeks to console a desponding man with words; a friend is one who aids with deeds at a critical time when deeds are called for.
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Nowadays it is the fashion to make nothing of what is proper, but only what is pleasant.
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As men are, so must you humour them. Think, at the same time, how short life is.
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“He wishes well” is worthless, unless the deed go with it.
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When the commander-in-chief is not with the army, that is sooner done which need not to be done than that which requires to be done.
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I do not at all reckon that every kind of gain is serviceable to a man.
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There are occasions when it is undoubtedly better to incur loss than to make gain.
Captivi, Act ii. Sc. 2, 77. (327.) -
One eye-witness is better than ten from mere hearsay. Hearers can only tell what they heard. Those who see, know exactly.
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If you have conquered your inclination, rather than your inclination you, you have something to rejoice at.
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Things unbecoming are to be held becoming if the master does them.
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Every man, however wise, sometimes requires the advice of a friend in the affairs of life.
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To say of a man “He means well,” is worth nothing except he does well.
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There is certainly a God who both hears and sees the things which we do.
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This goddess, Fortune, single-handed, frustrates the plans of a hundred learned men.
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The gods treat us mortals like so many balls to play with.
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The poor live wretchedly in every way; especially those who have no means of livelihood and have learned no craft.
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He who reminds a man with a good memory of what he remembers, makes him forget.
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There is neither sowing nor reaping in that affair for my benefit.
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What you do not expect happens more frequently than what you do.
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The poor man who enters into partnership with a rich makes a risky venture.
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It is good to be moderately sane in love; to be madly in love is not good.
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How often are men of the greatest genius lost in obscurity!
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The prudent man really frames his own fortunes for himself.
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Your tongues and your words are steeped in honey, but your hearts in gall and vinegar.
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He who accuses another of improper conduct ought to look to himself.
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I am poor, I admit; I put up with it. What the gods give I bear with.
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To ask what is unreasonable from the reasonable is not right; to ask what is reasonable from the unreasonable is folly.
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Those men who carry about and who listen to accusations, should all be hanged, if so it could be at my decision—the carriers by their tongues, the listeners by their ears.
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We are pouring our words into a perforated cask, i.e., are throwing them away.
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A bargain is not a bargain, no bargain is a bargain, as it pleases you.
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Nothing is there more friendly to a man than a friend in need.
Epidicus, Act iii. Sc. 3, 44. (425.) -
In the one hand he is carrying a stone, while he shows the bread in the other.
Aulularia, Act ii. Sc. 2, 18. (195.) -
I do not deem that a dowry which is called a dowry, but chastity, modesty, and subdued desire.
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Be sure of this, that that which is disagreeable comes more speedily than that which you eagerly desire.
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Provided she come with virtuous principles, a woman brings dowry enough.
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To a well-deserving man God will show favour, to an ill-deserving He will be simply just.
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I regard that man as lost who has lost his sense of shame.
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I do not like the man whom the town gentry belaud, but of whom the people of his own class say nothing.
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Where love enters to season a dish, I believe it will please any one.
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He who knows not his way straight to the sea should choose the river for his guide.
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It is a merit in a man of high birth and large fortune to train up his children so as to be a credit to his family and himself.
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You little know what a frightful thing it is to go to law.
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The wife who is given in marriage to a man against her will becomes his enemy.
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It is a very great pleasure if, on your return home after a long absence, you are not confronted with anything to vex you.
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All wise people ought to confer and hold converse with each other.
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Whom the gods love dies young, while his strength and senses and faculties are in their full vigour.
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He who has acquired wealth in time, unless he saves it in time, will in time come to starvation.
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Things which you do not hope happen more frequently than things which you do hope.
Mostellaria, Act i. Sc. 3, 40. (197.) -
Good courage in a bad affair is half of the evil overcome.
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Nobody is inquisitive about you who does not also bear you ill-will.
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If you are wise, be wise; keep what goods the gods provide you.
Rudens, Act iv. Sc. 7, 3. (1229.) -
This is the great fault of wine; it first trips up the feet: it is a cunning wrestler.
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Consider the little mouse, how sagacious an animal it is which never entrusts its life to one hole only.
Truculentus, Act iv. Sc. 4, 15. (868.) -
He is a friend indeed who proves himself a friend in need.
Where these quotes come from
- Aulularia (3 quotes)
- Trinummus (3 quotes)
- Mostellaria (3 quotes)
- Rudens (2 quotes)
- Captivi (1 quote)
- Epidicus (1 quote)
- Truculentus (1 quote)
- Menaechmi (1 quote)
Every quote comes from a public-domain edition. How the library was made .