The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (446 page)
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Villon, François
b. 1431
b. 1431
1
Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?But where are the snows of yesteryear?
En cette foi je veux vivre et mourir.In this faith I wish to live and to die.
Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?But where are the snows of yesteryear?
Le Grand Testament
(1461) "Ballade des dames du temps jadis" (tr. D. G. Rossetti)
En cette foi je veux vivre et mourir.In this faith I wish to live and to die.
Le Grand Testament
(1461) "Ballade pour prier Nostre Dame"
Vincent, St
of Lerins d.
ad
c.
450
of Lerins d.
ad
c.
450
1
Quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est.What is everywhere, what is always, what is by all people believed.
Quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est.What is everywhere, what is always, what is by all people believed.
Commonitorium Primum
sect. 2
Virgil
70
bc
70
bc
1
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam fato profugus Laviniaque venit
Litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
Vi superum, saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram.
I sing of arms and the man who first from the shores of Troy came destined an exile to Italy and the Lavinian beaches, a man much buffeted on land and on the deep by force of the gods because of fierce Juno's never-forgetting anger.
Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit.
Maybe one day it will be cheering to remember even these things.
Et vera incessu patuit dea.
And her true godhead was evident from her walk.
Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt.
There are tears shed for things even here and mortality touches the heart.
Equo ne credite, Teucri.
Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.
Do not trust the horse, Trojans. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts.
Dis aliter visum.
The gods thought otherwise.
Quid non mortalia pectora cogis,
Auri sacra fames!
To what do you not drive human hearts, cursed craving for gold!
Varium et mutabile semper
Femina.
Fickle and changeable always is woman.
Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor.
Rise up from my dead bones, avenger!
Hos successus alit: possunt, quia posse videntur.
These success encourages: they can because they think they can.
Bella, horrida bella,
Et Thybrim multo spumantem sanguine cerno.
I see wars, horrible wars, and the Tiber foaming with much blood.
Facilis descensus Averno:
Noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis;
Sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras,
Hoc opus, hic labor est.
Easy is the way down to the Underworld: by night and by day dark Hades' door stands open; but to retrace one's steps and to make a way out to the upper air, that's the task, that is the labour.
Ibant obscuri sola sub nocte.
Darkling they went under the lonely night.
Stabant orantes primi transmittere cursum
Tendebantque manus ripae ulterioris amore.
They stood begging to be the first to make the voyage over and they reached out their hands in longing for the further shore.
Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento
(Hae tibi erunt artes), pacique imponere morem,
Parcere subiectis et debellare superbos.
You, Roman, make your task to rule nations by your government (these shall be your skills), to impose ordered ways upon a state of peace, to spare those who have submitted and to subdue the arrogant.
Manibus date lilia plenis.
Give me lilies in armfuls.
Sunt geminae Somni portae, quarum altera fertur
Cornea, qua veris facilis datur exitus umbris,
Altera candenti perfecta nitens elephanto,
Sed falsa ad caelum mittunt insomnia Manes.
There are two gates of Sleep, one of which it is held is made of horn and by it easy egress is given to real ghosts; the other shining, fashioned of gleaming white ivory, but the shades send deceptive visions that way to the light.
Geniumque loci primamque deorum
Tellurem Nymphasque et adhuc ignota precatur
Flumina.
He prays to the spirit of the place and to Earth, the first of the gods, and to the Nymphs and as yet unknown rivers.
Macte nova virtute, puer, sic itur ad astra.
Blessings on your young courage, boy; that's the way to the stars.
Audentis Fortuna iuvat.
Fortune assists the bold.
often quoted as "Fortune favours the brave"
Et dulcis moriens reminiscitur Argos.
And dying remembers his sweet Argos.
Experto credite.
Trust one who has gone through it.
Tityre, tu patulae recubans sub tegmine fagi
Silvestrem tenui Musam meditaris avena.
Tityrus, you who lie under cover of the spreading beech-tree, you are practising your pastoral music on a thin stalk.
Latet anguis in herba.
There's a snake hidden in the grass.
Ultima Cumaei venit iam carminis aetas;
Magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo.
Iam redit et virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna,
Iam nova progenies caelo demittitur alto.
Now has come the last age according to the oracle at Cumae; the great series of lifetimes starts anew. Now too the virgin goddess returns, the golden days of Saturn's reign return, now a new race is sent down from high heaven.
Ambo florentes aetatibus, Arcades ambo,
Et cantare pares et respondere parati.
Both in the flower of their youth, Arcadians both, and matched and ready alike to start a song and to respond.
Non omnia possumus omnes.
We can't all do everything.
Nam neque adhuc Vario videor nec dicere Cinna
Digna, sed argutos inter strepere anser olores.
For I don't seem yet to write things as good either as Varius or as Cinna, but to be a goose honking amongst tuneful swans.
Omnia vincit Amor: et nos cedamus Amori.
Love conquers all things: let us too give in to Love.
Ultima Thule.
Farthest Thule.
Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam
Scilicet atque Ossae frondosum involvere Olympum;
Ter pater exstructos disiecit fulmine montis.
Three times they endeavoured to pile Ossa on Pelion, no less, and to roll leafy Olympus on top of Ossa; three times our Father broke up the towering mountains with a thunderbolt.
O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint,
Agricolas!
O farmers excessively fortunate if only they recognized their blessings!
Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.
Lucky is he who has been able to understand the causes of things.
of Lucretius
Sed fugit interea, fugit inreparabile tempus.
But meanwhile it is flying, irretrievable time is flying.
usually quoted as "tempus fugit [time flies]"
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam fato profugus Laviniaque venit
Litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
Vi superum, saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram.
I sing of arms and the man who first from the shores of Troy came destined an exile to Italy and the Lavinian beaches, a man much buffeted on land and on the deep by force of the gods because of fierce Juno's never-forgetting anger.
Aeneid
bk. 1, l. 1.
Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit.
Maybe one day it will be cheering to remember even these things.
Aeneid
bk. 1, l. 203
Et vera incessu patuit dea.
And her true godhead was evident from her walk.
Aeneid
bk. 1, l. 408
Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt.
There are tears shed for things even here and mortality touches the heart.
Aeneid
bk. 1, l. 463
Equo ne credite, Teucri.
Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.
Do not trust the horse, Trojans. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts.
Aeneid
bk. 2, l. 48
Dis aliter visum.
The gods thought otherwise.
Aeneid
bk. 2, l. 428
Quid non mortalia pectora cogis,
Auri sacra fames!
To what do you not drive human hearts, cursed craving for gold!
Aeneid
bk. 3, l. 56
Varium et mutabile semper
Femina.
Fickle and changeable always is woman.
Aeneid
bk. 4, l. 569; see below
Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor.
Rise up from my dead bones, avenger!
Aeneid
bk. 4, l. 625 (translation by C. Day-Lewis)
Hos successus alit: possunt, quia posse videntur.
These success encourages: they can because they think they can.
Aeneid
bk. 5, l. 231
Bella, horrida bella,
Et Thybrim multo spumantem sanguine cerno.
I see wars, horrible wars, and the Tiber foaming with much blood.
Aeneid
bk. 6, l. 86.
Facilis descensus Averno:
Noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis;
Sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras,
Hoc opus, hic labor est.
Easy is the way down to the Underworld: by night and by day dark Hades' door stands open; but to retrace one's steps and to make a way out to the upper air, that's the task, that is the labour.
Aeneid
bk. 6, l. 126
Ibant obscuri sola sub nocte.
Darkling they went under the lonely night.
Aeneid
bk. 6, l. 268
Stabant orantes primi transmittere cursum
Tendebantque manus ripae ulterioris amore.
They stood begging to be the first to make the voyage over and they reached out their hands in longing for the further shore.
Aeneid
bk. 6, l. 313
Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento
(Hae tibi erunt artes), pacique imponere morem,
Parcere subiectis et debellare superbos.
You, Roman, make your task to rule nations by your government (these shall be your skills), to impose ordered ways upon a state of peace, to spare those who have submitted and to subdue the arrogant.
Aeneid
bk. 6, l. 851
Manibus date lilia plenis.
Give me lilies in armfuls.
Aeneid
bk. 6, l. 884
Sunt geminae Somni portae, quarum altera fertur
Cornea, qua veris facilis datur exitus umbris,
Altera candenti perfecta nitens elephanto,
Sed falsa ad caelum mittunt insomnia Manes.
There are two gates of Sleep, one of which it is held is made of horn and by it easy egress is given to real ghosts; the other shining, fashioned of gleaming white ivory, but the shades send deceptive visions that way to the light.
Aeneid
bk. 6, l. 893
Geniumque loci primamque deorum
Tellurem Nymphasque et adhuc ignota precatur
Flumina.
He prays to the spirit of the place and to Earth, the first of the gods, and to the Nymphs and as yet unknown rivers.
Aeneid
bk. 7, l. 136.
Macte nova virtute, puer, sic itur ad astra.
Blessings on your young courage, boy; that's the way to the stars.
Aeneid
bk. 9, l. 641
Audentis Fortuna iuvat.
Fortune assists the bold.
often quoted as "Fortune favours the brave"
Aeneid
bk. 10, l. 284.
Et dulcis moriens reminiscitur Argos.
And dying remembers his sweet Argos.
Aeneid
bk. 10, l. 782
Experto credite.
Trust one who has gone through it.
Aeneid
bk. 11, l. 283
Tityre, tu patulae recubans sub tegmine fagi
Silvestrem tenui Musam meditaris avena.
Tityrus, you who lie under cover of the spreading beech-tree, you are practising your pastoral music on a thin stalk.
Eclogues
no. 1, l. 1
Latet anguis in herba.
There's a snake hidden in the grass.
Eclogues
no. 3, l. 93
Ultima Cumaei venit iam carminis aetas;
Magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo.
Iam redit et virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna,
Iam nova progenies caelo demittitur alto.
Now has come the last age according to the oracle at Cumae; the great series of lifetimes starts anew. Now too the virgin goddess returns, the golden days of Saturn's reign return, now a new race is sent down from high heaven.
Eclogues
no. 4, l. 4
Ambo florentes aetatibus, Arcades ambo,
Et cantare pares et respondere parati.
Both in the flower of their youth, Arcadians both, and matched and ready alike to start a song and to respond.
Eclogues
no. 7, l. 4
Non omnia possumus omnes.
We can't all do everything.
Eclogues
no. 8, l. 63.
Nam neque adhuc Vario videor nec dicere Cinna
Digna, sed argutos inter strepere anser olores.
For I don't seem yet to write things as good either as Varius or as Cinna, but to be a goose honking amongst tuneful swans.
Eclogues
no. 9, l. 32
Omnia vincit Amor: et nos cedamus Amori.
Love conquers all things: let us too give in to Love.
Eclogues
no. 10, l. 69.
Ultima Thule.
Farthest Thule.
Georgics
no. 1, l. 30
Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam
Scilicet atque Ossae frondosum involvere Olympum;
Ter pater exstructos disiecit fulmine montis.
Three times they endeavoured to pile Ossa on Pelion, no less, and to roll leafy Olympus on top of Ossa; three times our Father broke up the towering mountains with a thunderbolt.
Georgics
no. 1, l. 281
O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint,
Agricolas!
O farmers excessively fortunate if only they recognized their blessings!
Georgics
no. 2, l. 458
Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.
Lucky is he who has been able to understand the causes of things.
of Lucretius
Georgics
no. 2, l. 490
Sed fugit interea, fugit inreparabile tempus.
But meanwhile it is flying, irretrievable time is flying.
usually quoted as "tempus fugit [time flies]"
Georgics
no. 3, l. 284
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