List of Latin proverbs

Latin and Roman proverbs and sayings, in alphabetical order, with English translations.
For shorter phrases, see: List of Latin phrases.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

• A mari usque ad mare — "From sea to sea," motto of Canada.
• Ab esse ad posse — "From being to knowing" from the existence of things one can make sure of their possibilities. See also: a posse ad esse non valet consequentia
• Ab Iove principium — "Let's start with the most important [Jupiter]."
• Absentem laedit, qui cum ebrio litigat — "He who quarrels with a drunk hurts an absentee."
• Abusus non tollit usum — "Abuse is no argument against proper use", legal phrase meaning that just because something can be abused there is no reason for putting an end to its legitimate use
• Acta est fabula — "What happened is a fable," or "The fable is ended" (Augustus' last words)
• Ad astra per aspera — "To the stars through difficulties," motto of Kansas. (More frequently as per aspera ad astra.)
• A Deo rex, a rege lex — "Of God the King, of the King the law". Attributed to James I of England
• Ad impossibilia nemo tenetur — "Nobody must keep a commitment to do impossible things.".
• Adde parvum parvo manus acervus erit. — "Add little to little and there will be a big pile" — Ovid.
• Aegroto dum anima est, spes est — "As long as a sick person is conscious (or, has a good character, or reacts), there is still hope."
• Age quod agis - "Do what you do", in the sense of "Do well what you do" or "Be serious in what you do"
• Alea jacta est - see Iacta alea est.
• Alii bella gerunt, tu felix Austria nube. — "Others may lead wars, you, happy Austria, marry." Referring to Austria's cunning policy in early modern times to marry into all important royal houses.
• Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur. — "A true friend is discerned during an uncertain matter" (Cicero)
• Amor patriae nostra lex — "Love of the fatherland is our law."
• Amor vincit omnia — "Love conquers all." (See Omnia vincit amor).
• A posse ad esse non valet consequentia — "From a thing's possibility one cannot be certain of its reality" See also: ab esse ad posse
• Aquiris quodcumque rapis — "You acquire what you reap (or take by force)"
• Ars est celare artem — "Art is to conceal art"
• Ars gratia artis — "Art for art's sake," motto of Metro Goldwin Mayer.
• Ars longa, vita brevis. — "Art is long, life is short." The Latin translation by Horace of a phrase from Hippocrates, often used out of context. The art referred to in the original aphorism was the craft of medicine, which took a lifetime to acquire.
• Audaces fortuna iuvat — "Luck helps those who're brave." (Virgil, Æneis 10,284)
• Audi, vide, tace, si tu vis vivere. — "Hear, see, be silent, if you wish to live."
• Audi alteram partem — "Hear the other side" (a legal fairness principle).
• Audiatur et altera pars — "Hear both sides."
• Aurora musis amica est — "Dawn is a friend of muses"

B

• Beati pauperes spiritu — "Lucky are those of a poor spirit" (Vulgate, Matthew 3:5)
• Beatus, qui prodest, quibus potest. — "He is lucky who helps everyone he can." or, very differently, "He is lucky the one who gets ad advantage from those on which he has some power."
• Bene diagnoscitur, bene curatur. — "Something that is well diagnosed can be cured well."
• Bene vixit qui bene latuit — "He lives well who lives unnoticed" (Ovid)
• Bis dat, qui cito dat. — "He who gives quickly gives twice." (Publilius Syrus)
• Bis repetita non placent — "Repetitions are not well received." (Horace, Ars Poetica 365)
• Bona diagnosis, bona curatio. — "Good diagnosis, good cure."
• Bona valetudo melior est quam maximae divitiae. — "Good health is worth more than the greatest wealth."
• Boni pastoris est tondere pecus, non deglubere. — "A good shepherd shears his sheep, he doesn't flay them" (Tiberius to his regional commanders) i.e. don't tax the populace excessively

C

• Carpe diem — "Seize the day." By Horace, Odes I,11,8, to Carthage must be destroyed." Actually, ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam ("Therefore, I conclude that Carthage must be destroyed") Cato the Elder used to end every speech of his to the Senate, on any subject whatsoever, with this phrase.
• Cibi condimentum est fames — "Hunger is a spice for any meal."
• Civis romanum sum. — "I am a Roman" (Cicero)
• Claude os, aperi oculos! — "Shut up and watch!"
• Cogito ergo sum — "I think, therefore I am." Argument used by René Descartes as proof of his own existence.
• Concordia civium murus urbium. — "Harmony of citizens is the wall of cities."
• Concordia salus. — "well-being through harmony."
• Consuetudinis vis magna est — "The power of habit is great."
• Consuetudo altera natura est — "Habit is second nature."
• Contraria contrariis curantur — "Opposites are cured by their opposites."
• Contra vim mortis non est medicamen in hortis — "There's no herb against the power of death."
• Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges — "The greater the degeneration of the kingdom, the more of its laws" (Tacitus)
• Credo quia absurdum — "I believe it because it is absurd." Attributed to Tertullian; see fideism.
• Cuius regio, eius religio — "He who rules, his religion": the privilege of a ruler to choose the religion of his subjects, established at the Peace of Augsburg in 1555.
• Cuiusvis hominis est errare — "Every human can err." (Cicero)
• Cura te ipsum — "Cure thyself." An exhortation to medical doctors or experts in general.
• Cura, ut valeas! — "Take Care!"

D

• Damnant quod non intellegunt. — "They condemn what they do not understand."
• De gustibus non est disputandum. — "Matters of taste ought not to be disputed."
• De minimis non curat praetor (or rex or lex) — "The authority" (or "king", or "law") "does not care about trivial things."
• De mortuis nihil nisi bene. — "Of the dead, nothing but good." I.e., "Say only good things about the dead." Probably a translation from a Greek sentence by Chilon
• Deliriant isti Romani. — "They are mad, those Romans"; — René Goscinny, Asterix and Obelix comic
• Deo Vindice — "[With] God as [our] protector" — motto of the Confederate States of America.
• Deorum injuriae Diis curae — "Offences to the gods are the concern of the gods."
• Deserta faciunt et pacem appelant - "They destroy everything and they call it peace." (Tacitus)
• Desinit in piscem mulier formosa superne - "The beautiful woman ends in a fish tail." (Horace, Ars poetica)
• Deus ex machina! — "God from machine!" The term was made by Greek tragics: a twist that couldn't be solved by natural means. Today, it's used for a person, who, with his sudden appearance, solves a twisted situation.
• Deus vult! — "God wills it!," slogan of the Crusades.
• Diem perdidi — "I lost the day" (Emperor Titus, passed down in Suetonius's biography (8))
• Divide et impera — "Divide and govern". Attributed to Julius Caesar.
• Docendo discimus — "We learn by teaching" (Seneca)
• Dominus Illuminatio Mea — "The Lord is my light," motto of Oxford University.
• Donec eris felix multos numerabis amicos. — "As long as you're happy, you'll have many friends." (Ovid, Tristia I,9,5)
• Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus — "Never tickle a sleeping dragon," motto of Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling.
• Dulce enim etiam nomen est pacis. "The name 'peace' is sweet itself."
• Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. "It is sweet and honorable to die for the fatherland." By Horace, Odes III, 2, 13, frequently quoted, notably in the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen.
• Dum spiro, spero. — "As long as I breathe, I hope."
• Duo cum faciunt idem, non est idem — "When two do the same, it isn't the same" (Terence)
• Dura lex, sed lex. — "The law is harsh, but it is the law."
• Dura necessitas. — "Necessity is harsh."

E

• E fructu arbor cognoscitur. — "The tree can be recognized by its fruits."
• Errare humanum est. Perseverare diabolicum. — "To err is human. To repeat error is of the Devil." (Seneca)
• Et ipsa scientia potestas est. — "And knowledge itself, is power" (Francis Bacon, Meditationes sacræ)
• Et nunc reges, intelligite erudimini qui judicatis terram... — "And now kings, be warned, you who judge on earth..." (Vulgate, Psalms 2:10)
• Exegi monumentum aere perennius — "I have built a monument more durable than bronze." (Horace, Odes III, 30, 1, of his poetry).
• Ex astris, Scientia — "From the stars, Knowledge" (the motto of Starfleet Academy in Star Trek)
• Ex oriente lux — "From the East [comes] the light [i.e. culture]"
• Experto credite — "Believe me, for I have experienced" (Virgil)
• Ex nihilo nihil fit — "Nothing comes from nothing" (you need to work for something; also the Conservation Law in philosophy and modern science). (Lucretius)
• Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus — "Outside the Church [there is] No Salvation" (a disputed thesis of Roman Catholic theology).

F

• Faber est suae quisque fortunae — "Everyone is his own happiness' smith" (Appius Claudius Caecus)
• Facilis descensus Averno — "The descent to hell is easy."
• Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere — "Lucky [is the person] who could realize things" (variant of Virgil, Georgica 2, 490).
• Festina lente ! — "Make haste slowly" (i.e. proceed quickly but with caution, a motto of Augustus Caesar).
• Fiat justitia et pereat mundus — "Let justice be done, though the world perish" (Ferdinand I)
• Fiat justitia ruat coelum — "Let justice be done, though heaven should fall."
• Fiat lux — "Let there be light."
• Fide, sed qui, vide. — "Trust but take care whom."
• Finis coronat opus. — "Thread ornaments the work."
• Fluctuat nec mergitur — "Shaken by the waves, but it will not sink" (inscription on Paris' coat of arms).
• Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit — "Perhaps even this will one day be pleasant to look back on" from Virgil's Aeneid, possibly a translation from Aesop.
• Fortasse erit, fortasse non erit — "Maybe it will be, maybe it will not"
• Fortes fortuna iuvat — "Fortune favors the strong." (cf. Audaces fortuna iuvat.) (Terence)

G

• Gallia omnes divisa est in partes tres — "The whole of Gaul is divided into three parts." (C. Julius Caesar in "Commentarii de Bello Gallico")
• Gaudeamus igitur iuvenes dum sumus — "Thus let us enjoy ourselves as long as we are young." (From an old German student's song.)
• Gloria victis. — "Glory to the defeated."
• Graeca sunt, non leguntur — "It is Greek [and] isn't read". Something incomprehensible that is skipped.
• Gutta cavat lapidem non bis, sed saepe cadendo; sic homo fit sapiens bis non, sed saepe legendo. — "A drop drills a rock by falling not twice, but many times; so too is a human made smart by reading not two, but many books" (Giordano Bruno).
• Gutta cavat lapidem [non vi, sed saepe cadendo]. — "A drop drills the rock [not with force but by falling repeatedly]." (Ovid, Epistulæ ex Ponto)

H

• Habent sua fata libelli. — "Books have their fate." (Terentianus Maurus)
• Hannibal ante portas. — "Hannibal before the gates," i.e. wasting time while the enemy is already here.
• Hic Rhodus, hic salta. — "It's Rhodos, jump here." Aesop
• Hodie mihi, cras tibi. — "What's to me today, tomorrow to you."
• Homines quod volunt credunt. — "Men believe what they want to." (Julius Caesar)
• Homo homini lupus est. — "Man is a wolf to man." Hobbes
• Homo proponit, sed Deus disponit — "Man proposes, God disposes." (Thomas à Kempis)
• Homo sui iuris. — "Independant man."
• Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto. — "I am human, so nothing that is human is foreign to me." (Terence)
• Honores mutant mores. — "Honors change behavior"
• Hypotheses non fingo. — "I feign no hypotheses" (I do not assert that any hypotheses are true). Newton, Principia

I

• Iacta alea est. — "the die is cast" (Julius Caesar; see note under Rubicon)
• Igne natura renovatur integra (INRI) — "Through fire nature is reborn whole"; an alchemical aphorism.
• Ignorantia iuris nocet — "Being ignorant of law harms."
• Ignorantia legis non excusat — "Ignorance of the law is no excuse."
• Ignoti nulla cupido — "The unknown does not tempt."
• In cauda venenum — "The poison is in the tail" (as in a scorpion).
• In dubio pro reo — "When in doubt, in favour of the accused". (Corpus Juris Civilis)
• In hoc signo vinces — "By this sign you will conquer" (Constantine's vision before the Battle of Milvian Bridge).
• In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas — "In necessary things unity, in doubtful things liberty, in all things charity" (often misattributed to St Augustine).
• In vino veritas. — "There is truth in wine." That is, "Wine will bring out truth."
• Infinitus est numerus stultorum — "Infinite is the number of fools" (Vulgate, Ecclesiastes 1:15).
• Inter arma enim silent leges (or Musae) — "During wars the laws" (or "arts") "are silent" (Cicero, Oratio Pro Annio Milone IV).
• Interdum dormitat bonus Homerus — "Sometimes even the good Homer slumbers" (i.e. even the best of us makes mistakes); originally quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus, Horace, Ars Poetica
• Ira furor brevis est. — "Anger is a short rage" (Horace, epistles I, 2, 62).
• Is fecit, cui prodest. — "Done by the one who profits from it."
• Iura novat curia. — "The law is known to the court." Legal principle (e.g. in Germany) that says lawyers are not to argue the law because that is the office of the court.
• Iurare in verba magistri. — "Swear by teacher's words."
• Iustitia omni auro carior. — "Justice is more precious than all gold."

J

• Justitia omnibus. — "Justice for all.", motto of the District of Columbia.

L

• Labor omnia vincit. — "Work conquers all things." Motto of the State of Oklahoma
• Laborare est orare. — "To work is to pray." A common school motto.
• Libertati viam facere. — "Making a road to freedom."
• Lupus in fabula. — "A wolf in the story." Said about someone who has just appeared and it was talked about him.

M

• Major e longinquo reverentia — "Viewed from a distance, everything is beautiful." Cornelius Tacitus, annals 1,47
• Mala herba cito crescit — "Weeds grow fast."
• Manus manum lavat — "One hand washes the other."
• Mater artium necessitas. — "Necessity is the mother of invention" (Apuleius)
• Maxima debetur puero reverentia — "One owes the greatest possible care for the child" (Juvenal)
• Medicus curat, natura sanat — "The doctor cares [for his patient], nature heals [him]."
• Medio tutissimus ibis — "In the middle shall you walk the safest" i.e. the middle path is the safest one (Ovid)
• Memento mori. — "Remember your mortality." Also, ironically, "Remember to die." it is the motto of the Friars of Trappa.
• Mens sana in corpore sano — "Healthy mind in healthy body." (Usually understood as "a healthy mind requires a healthy body", but actually Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano, "One prays that there is a healthy mind in (that) healthy body." Juvenal, Satires 10, 356).
• Mens agitat molem — "Minds move mountains" (The University of Oregon Motto).
• Morituri te salutant — "Those who are doomed to die greet you" (traditional greeting of the gladiators prior to battle; passed on by Suetonius, Claudius 21).
• Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur. — "The world desires to be deceived; therefore it is" (Attributed to Petronius)

N

• Natura abhorret vacuum. — "Nature abhors a vacuum."
• Natura non facit saltum (saltus) — "Nature makes no leaps" i.e. the development of nature is gradual (Plutarch to Gnaeus Pompeius who, during a severe storm, commanded sailors to bring food from Africa to Rome
• Ne quid nimis — "Not too much", moderation in all thing (Terence)
• Ne sutor supra crepidam — "Shoemaker, not above the sandal", do not criticise things you know nothing of (Pliny the Elder)
• Nec Hercules contra duos. — "Even Hercules [can't] against two"
• Nemo iudex in causa sua. — "No-one is a judge in his own case".
• Nemo me impune lacessit. — "No-one attacks me with impunity," the Scots national motto.
• Nemo saltat sobrius — "Nobody dances sober" (Cicero)
• Neque ignorare [medicum] oportet quae sit aegri natura. — "Nor does it behoove [the doctor] to ignore the sick man's temperament." A. Cornelius Celsus, 'De Medicina', Prooemium.
• Nihil lacrima citius arescit. — "Nothing dries more quickly than a tear."
• Nil admirari — "To not admire anything" you shouldn't let yourself be taken away by anything (Horace)
• Nil illegitimi carborundum. — dog Latin (i.e. not real Latin) for "Do not let the bastards wear you down." (Carborundum is a commercial abrasive).
• Nil satis nisi optimum — "Nothing but the best is good enough."
• Nil sine magno labore vita dedit mortalibus — "life does not give mortals anything but hard labor" (Horace)
• Nil sine numini. — "Nothing without Providence."
• Noli turbare circulos meos — "Don't move my circles" commonly attributed last words of Archimedes
• Nomina sunt odiosa — "Names are odious" (Cicero)
• Nomen est omen. — "A name is an omen."
• Non bis in idem. — "Not twice in the same (matter)." Legal principle forbidding Double jeopardy.
• Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum. — "It is not every man's lot to go to Corinth" Corinth was at this time known for its many and lavish brothels
• Non fui, fui, non sum, non curo. — "I was not, I was, I am not, I don't care." (found on tombstones abbreviated NFFNSNC)
• Non licet omnibus adire Corinthum — "Not everybody is granted [the privilege of] going to Corinth" (Horace, epistles I, 17, 36)
• Non nobis solum nati sumus — "We are not born for ourselves alone"
• Non olet — "It [money] doesn't smell" (according to Suetonius, Emperor Vespasian was challenged by his son Titus for taxing the public lavatories, the emperor held up a coin before his son and asked whether it smelled)
• Non omnia possumus omnes. — "All of us cannot do everything." (Virgil)
• Non scholae, sed vitae discimus. — "We don't learn for school but for life." (Original quotation Seneca's is "Non vitae, sed scholae discimus")
• Non ut edam vivo, sed ut vivam edo. — "I don't live to eat, but I eat to live."
• Non vestimentum virum ornat, sed vir vestimentum. — "Not the raiment graces the man, but the man the raiment."
• Nondum amabam, et amare amabam. — "I did not love, even if I yearned to love."
• Nosce te ipsum! — "Know thyself!" (Cicero, from the Greek gnothi seauton, on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi). See also: Temet nosce
• Nulla dies sine linea. — "No day without a line."
• Nulla est medicina sine lingua Latina. — "No medicine without Latin."
• Nulla poena sine lege — "No punishment without a law."
• Nulla regula sine exceptione. — "No rule without exception."
• Nulla res tam necessaria est quam medicina. — "Nothing is so necessary as medicine."
• Nunc aut numquam — "Now or never"
• Nunc est bibendum — "Now it's time to drink" (Horace, Odes I, 37, 1)

O

• O fortunatos nimium sua si bona norint, agricolas — "Oh fortunate farmers [i.e., non-mariners], if only they would see their luck" (Virgil, Georgica 2, 458ff.)
• O sancta simplicitas! — "O sacred vanity" (attributed to Jan Hus as he was burned at the stake)
• Obscuris vera involvens — "Obscurity envelops truth" (Virgil).
• Oculi plus vident quam oculus. — "Several eyes see more than only one."
• Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci — "" (Horace)
• Omne vivum ex ovo — "Everything living comes from the egg"
• Omnes homines sibi sanitatem cupiunt, saepe autem omnia, quae valetudini contraria sunt, faciunt. — "All men wish to be healthy, but often they do everything that's disadvantageous to their health."
• Omnia mea mecum porto. — "All that's mine I carry with me."
• Omnia vincit amor — "Love conquers all" More fully, Omnia vincit amor, nos et cedamus amori: "Love conquers all, let us too yield to love" (Virgil, Eclogues 10:69).
• Omnium artium medicina nobilissima est. — "Medicine is the noblest of all arts."
• Optimum medicamentum quies est. — "Peace is the best medicine."
• Ora et labora. — "Pray and work." (Motto of Benedictine Order)

P

• Pacta sunt servanda — "Agreements must be honoured."
• Pax melior est quam iustissimum bellum. — "Peace is better than the most just war."
• Per ardua ad astra — "Through hardship to the stars" (motto of the Royal Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force).
• Per aspera ad astra — "Through hardships to the stars" (motto of NASA) from Seneca.
• Per fas et nefas — "With right and wrong" by any means necessary
• Per scientiam ad salutem aegroti. — "To heal the sick through knowledge."
• Periculum in mora — "[There's] danger in delay" (Livy)
• Piscem natare doces — "[You] teach a fish to swim."
• Plenus venter non studet libenter. — "A full belly doesn't like studying."
• Plures crapula quam gladius perdidit. — "Drunkenness takes more lives than the sword."
• Post cenam non stare sed mille passus meare. — "Do not rest after dinner, but walk a mile."
• Post hoc non est propter hoc. — "'After this' is not 'because of this'."
• Potius sero quam numquam — "Better late then never" (Livy)
• Pro aris et focis — "For altar and hearth" i.e. for our homes (Cicero)
• Proximus sum egomet mihi — "I am closest to myself" (Terence)
• Praesente medico nihil nocet. — "In the presence of a doctor nothing can harm."
• Praevenire melius est quam praeveniri. — "It is better to precede than to be preceded."
• Primum ego, tum ego, deinde ego.' — "First I, then I, thereafter I." (The author of this confident statement, a Roman emperor, will be added soon!)
• Primum non nocere — "First, do no harm" (often falsely attributed to the Hippocratic Oath).
• Principiis obsta — "Resist the beginnings" (i.e. undesirable trends should be nipped in the bud).
• Pulvis et umbra sumus — "We are dust and shadow" (Horace, Carmina, Book IV, 7, 16).

Q

• Quæ communiter possidentur communiter negliguntur — ""(Things) which are possessed in community are neglected in community.""
• Qualis rex, talis grex — "Like king, like people"
• Quem di diligunt, adulescens moritur — "Whom the gods love dies young" (Plautus, Bacchides, IV, 7, 18). In the comic play, a sarcastic servant says this to his aging master. The rest of the sentence reads: dum valet, sentit, sapit, "while he is full of health, perception and judgement."
• Qui dormit non peccet. — "He who sleeps does not sin"
• Qui habet aures audiendi audiat — "Those who have ears to hear, hear!" (Vulgate, Matthew 11:15)
• Qui rogat, non errat. — "Who asks isn't wrong."
• Qui scribit, bis legit. — "Who writes, reads twice."
• Qui tacet consentit — "He who is silent, agrees"
• Qui tacet, consentire videtur. — "Who is silent seems to agree."
• Qui vult dare parva non debet magna rogare. — "He who wishes to give little shouldn't ask for much."
• Quia suam uxorem etiam suspiciore vacare vellet. — "Caesar's wife may not be suspected" (Plutarch, Caesar 10) The rhetorian Clodius was having an affair with Caesar's second wife, Pompeia. At a party attended by Pompeia Clodius arrived in disguise but was caught. In the following trial, Caesar claimed that nothing wrong had happened, but he still had to divorce her.
• Quid Saulus inter prophetas? — "What is Saul doing among the prophets?" (a fifth wheel)
• Quidquid agis, prudenter agas, et respice finem! — "Whatever you do, may you do it prudently, and toe the line!"
• Quidquid discis, tibi discis — "Whatever you learn, you learn it for yourself."
• Quidquid id est timeo puellas et oscula dantes. — "Whatever it is, I fear the girls, even when they kiss." (a variant on Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes).
• Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur. — "Anything said in Latin sounds profound."
• Quieta non movere — "Don't move settled things" (i.e. "Don't rock the boat").
• Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? — "Who will watch the watchmen themselves?" (Juvenal).
• Quod licet Iovis, non licet bovis. — "What is allowed to Jupiter is not necessarily allowed to an ox."
• Quod medicina aliis, aliis est acre venenum. — "One person's medicine is another's foul poison."
• Quod non est in actis, non est in mundo — "What is not in the documents does not exist"
• Quot capita, tot sententiae. — "As many opinions as people."

R

• Radix malorum est cupiditas — "Greed is the root of all evil." (theme of the Pardoner's Tale from the Canterbury Tales)
• Recta linea brevissima, recta via tutissima — "Straight line is the shortest, straight road is the most safe."
• Reddite ergo quae sunt Caesaris, Caesari — "Then give Caesar what's Caesar's" (Vulgate, Matthew 22:21 as well as Luke 20:25)
• Repetitio est mater studiorum. — "Repetition is the mother of study."
• Rete non tenditur milvio — "The net is not extended to the kite" (i.e. things (of the air) fall where they may).
• Risus abundat in ore stultorum — "Laughs are plentiful in the mouth of the foolish."
• Romani ite domum — "Romans Go Home!" Monty Python's Life of Brian
• Rustica progenies semper villana fuit. — "A rustic (as in, provincial, peasant-like) ancestry will always remain rustic."

S

• Saepe morborum gravium exitus incerti sunt. — "The effects of serious illnesses are often unknown."
• Salus aegroti suprema lex. — "The well-being of the patient is the most important law."
• Salus populi suprema lex esto — "Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law" (motto of the U.S. state of Missouri).
• Sapere aude — "Dare to be wise."
• Si decem habeas linguas, mutum esse addecet. — "Even if you had ten tongues, you should hold them all."
• Si fueris Romae, Romano vivito more, si fueris alibi, vivito sicut ibi. — "If you are in Rome, live in the Roman way, if you are somewhere else, live like there."
• Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice — "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you" (the motto of the U.S. state of Michigan).
• Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses. — "If you had kept your silence, you would have stayed a philosopher."
• Si uno adhuc proelio Romanos vincemus, funditus peribimus! — "Another victory like that, and I'm done for!" (Plutarch, Pyrrhus 21, 14) Attributed to King Pyrrhus of Epirus after a victory with heavy casualties. See Pyrrhic victory
• Si vis amaria, ama — "If you want to be loved, love" (Seneca)
• Si vis pacem, para bellum. — "If you want peace, prepare for war." (Vegetius, Epitoma rei militaris) origin of the name parabellum for some ammunition and firearms, e.g. Luger parabellum
• Si vis pacem, para iustitiam. — "If you want peace, prepare justice."
• Sic Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos? — "If God is with us, who can be against us", (Vulgate, Romans 8:31)
• Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc — "We gladly feast on those who would subdue us" (motto of The Addams Family).
• Sic semper tyrannis — "Thus always to tyrants" (motto of the U.S. state of Virginia; said to have been shouted by John Wilkes Booth after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln).
• Sic transit gloria mundi — "Thus passes the glory of the world." In Bible; also, during papal coronations, a barefoot monk interrupts the procession three times, holding a burning tow, and after it goes out says "Pater sancte (Holy Father), sic transit gloria mundi" — to remind the new Pope that, despite the grand procession, he is still a mortal man.
• Similia similibus curantur. — "Like cures like." (Samuel Hahnemann, founder of homeopathy).
• Sine labore non erit panis in ore. — "Without work there won't be any bread in your mouth."
• Sol lucet omnibus — "The sun shines for everyone" (Gaius Petronius Arbiter, Satyricon 100)
• Soli Deo gloria — "Glory to God alone"
• Stat sua cuique dies — "The date is set for each and everyone" (Virgil)
• Summum ius summa inuria. — "More law, less justice." (Cicero, De officiis I, 10, 33)
• Sunt facta verbis difficiliora — "Works are harder than words." i.e. "Easier said than done."
• Sutor, ne ultra crepidam! — "Cobbler, no further than the sandal!" I.e. don't offer your opinion on things that are outside your competence. It is said that Greek painter Apelles once asked the advice of a cobbler on how to render the sandals of a soldier he was painting. When the cobbler started offering advice on other parts of the painting, Apelles rebuked him with this phrase (but in Greek).
• Suum cuique — "To each what he deserves"

T

• Tarde venientibus ossa. — "For those who come late, only the bones."
• Temet nosce — "Know yourself" (from the Greek gnothi seauton, on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi). See also: Nosce te ipsum!
• Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis. — "The times are changed, and we are changed in them." (John Owen)
• Tempori parce! — "Save time!"
• Tempus fugit — "Time flees" (i.e., "time flies"). Originally as Sed fugit interea, fugit irreparabile tempus — "Meanwhile the irreplaceable time flees" (Virgil)
• Teneo te, Africa! — "I have you, Africa!" Svetonius attributes this to Caesar, when the emperor was on the African coast.
• Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes — "I fear the Danaens [the Greeks] even if they bring presents" (Virgil, Æneis, 2, 49) Uttered by Laocoön as he warns his fellow Trojans against accepting the Trojan Horse.
• Tres faciunt collegium. — "Three makes a company."
• Tu quoque Brute filii mihi? — "Even you Brutus, my son?" Julius Cesar at the 15th March after being wounded at death.
• Tunc tua res agitur, paries cum proximus ardet — "It also concerns you when the nearest wall is burning"

U

• Ubi bene, ibi patria — "Where one feels good, there is one's country."
• Ubi concordia, ibi victoria. — "Where there is harmony, there is victory."
• Ubi dubium, ibi libertas. — "Where there is doubt, there is freedom."
• Ubi fumus, ibi ignis. — "Where there's smoke, there's fire."
• Ubi mel ibi apes — "Where there's honey, there are bees."
• Ubi tu Gaius, ibi ego Gaia. — "Where you are, Gaius, there I, Gaia, will be." (This is said to have been a nuptial formula, but it is only known from Greek sources.)
• Ultra posse nemo obligatur — "Nobody is bound beyond ability"
• Ulula cum lupis, cum quibus esse cupis. — "Who keeps company with wolves, will learn to howl."
• Una hirundo non facit ver — "One swallow doesn't make spring"
• Una salus victis, nullam sperare salutem —"The only [hope of ]safety for the defeated is to relinquish all hope of safety." (Virgil, Aeneid, II, 354)
• Unum castigabis, centum emendabis. — "If you reprove one error, you will correct a hundred."
• Usus magister est optimus. — "Practice makes perfect."
• Ut ameris, amabilis esto. — "Be amiable, then you'll be loved."
• Ut sis nocte levis, sit cena brevis! — "That your sleeping hour be peaceful, let your dining hour be brief!" (Sis is one hour before sunset.)
• Ut desint vires, tamen est laudanda voluntas — "Even if the powers are missing, the will deserves praise" (Ovid)

V

• Vae Victis — "Woe to the conquered." Attributed by Livy to the chief of the Gauls as they sacked Rome in 390 BC.
• Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas — "Vanity of vanities and everything is vanity." (Vulgate, Ecclesiastes 1:2)
• Varium et mutabile semper femina — "Woman is always a changeable and capricious thing."
• Varitatio delectat — "Change pleases."
• Venies sub dentem — "You will come under [my] tooth."
• Ventis secundis, tene cursum. — "Go with the flow."
• Verba docent, exempla trahunt. — "Words instruct, illustrations lead."
• Verba volant, scripta manent. — "Words fly, written stays."
• Veritas odium paret — "Truth creates hatred" (Terence, Andria 68)
• Vestigia terrent — "The traces deter" (Horace) Refers to the old fable of the wolf who refused an offer to enter the lion's den as he saw many traces leading into it, but none out.
• Vincere scis, Hannibal, victoria uti nescis. — "You know how to win victory, Hannibal, you do not how to use it." According to Livy a cavalry colonel told Hannibal this after the victory at Cannae in 216 BC, meaning that Hannibal should have marched on Rome directly
• Victrix causa diis placuit sed victa Catoni — "The victorious cause was pleasing to the Gods, but the lost cause to Cato" (Lucanus, Pharsalia 1, 128) (Dedication on the south side of the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery)
• Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor — "I see the better and acknowledge it, but I follow the worse (Ovid)
• Vinum et musica laetificant cor — "Wine and music delight the heart" (Vulgate, Ecclesiasticus 40:20)
• Virtus, non copia vincint — "Courage, not multitude, wins"
• Volenti non fit iniuria — "To a willing person one cannot do injustice."
• Vox populi, vox dei. — "The voice of the people is the voice of God."

See also

• List of Latin phrases
• Brocards
• proverb
• Chinese proverbs
• English proverbs
• French proverbs
• German proverbs
• Japanese proverbs
• Polish proverbs
• Portuguese proverbs
• Spanish proverbs