LatSayings

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Latin Sayings List:

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A collection of latin sayings, quotes, phrases, mottos, and anything else funny, insightful, encouraging or just plain interesting translated into Latin.


Last Update:   10-29-2007

We have a brand new Latin FORUM!
http://www.LatinSayings.info/forum/
Because of the flood of emails lately, I've created this public message board to handle all translation requests and additions to the Latin Sayings List. Please come and visit, especially if you have any experience w the Latin language, as I'm sure a lot of people would really appreciate your advice.

I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to my Latin Sayings collection over the past ten years. The popularity of the list continues to amaze me (receiving almost a half million hits a year!) and has far exceeded any of my original intentions (final project for my Latin 1 class in high school). As a note many of the sayings are very tongue-in-cheek and are meant to entertain rather than be 100% historically accurate. However, if you do find an error or have any sayings to add please visit our Latin Sayings Forum.
Enjoy,   Chris





"Exegi monumentum aere perennius." (I have erected a monument more lasting than bronze. (Horace))

"nonne amicus certus in re incerta cernitur?" (a friend in need is a friend in deed (our equivalent))

"Sine labore nihil" (Nothing without work)

"Conlige suspectos semper habitos" (Round up the usual suspects)

"Veni, Vidi, Dormivi" (I came, I saw, I slept)

"Veni, vidi, vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered. (Caesar))

"Te Amo" (I Love You)

"Corripe Cervisiam" (Seize the beer!)

"Carpe Diem!" (Seize the day (Horace))

"Ante bellum" (Before the war)

"Caveat emptor" (Let the buyer beware.)

"Merda taurorum animas conturbit" (Bullshit baffles brains)

"Homo praesumitur bonus donec probetur malus" (One is innocent until proven guilty.)

"Mors ultima linea rerum est" (Death is everything's final limit)

"Cogita ante salis." (Think before you leap (or roughly - Look before you leap.) )

"Terra firma" (Solid ground)

"Habeas corpus" (You should have the body (You have the undeniable right))

Ridentem dicere verum quid vetat.(Horace, Satires) What prevents me from speaking the truth with a smile?

Vir sapit qui pauca loquitur. It is a wise man who speaks little.

Cogito Ergo Sum. I think Therefore I am.

Non Gradus Anus Rodentum! Not Worth A Rats Ass!

Si hoc signum legere potes, operis boni in rebus Latinis alacribus et fructuosis potiri potes! If you can read this sign, you can get a good job in the fast-paced, high-paying world of Latin!)

Sona si Latine loqueris. (Honk if you speak Latin.)

Re vera, potas bene. (Say, you sure are drinking a lot.)

Romani quidem artem amatoriam invenerunt. (You know, the Romans invented the art of love.)

Mellita, domi adsum. (Honey, I'm home.)

Magister Mundi sum! (I am the Master of the Universe!)

Estne volumen in toga, an solum tibi libet me videre? (Is that a scroll in your toga, or are you just happy to see me?)

Vescere bracis meis. (Eat my shorts.)

"illegitimi non carborundum" ((Check out this Wikipedia page for the history of the phrase.) Roughly Translated: Don't let the bastards grind you down.)

Da mihi sis cerevisiam dilutam. (I'll have a light beer.)

Da mihi sis bubulae frustrum assae, solana tuberosa in modo Gallico fricta, ac quassum lactatum coagulatum crassum. (Give me a hamburger, french fries, and a thick shake.)

Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt. (When catapults are outlawed, only outlaws will have catapults.)

Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris. (If Caesar were alive, you'd be chained to an oar.)

"Errare humanum est" ((to err is human) mistakes are human)

"Cave cibum, valde malus est." (Beware the food, it is very bad.)

"Stercus accidit" (shit happens)

"In Vino Veritas" (In wine there is truth (People say what they really mean when they're drunk))

"pax vobiscum" (peace be with you)

Ubi fumus, ibi ignis. Where there's smoke, there's fire.

"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." (it is sweet and fitting to die for ones country)

"ad infinitum" (to infinity)

"ad nauseam" (to sickness)

"Veritas Lux Mea" (The truth enlightens me / The truth is my light (Motto of Seoul National University in South Korea))

"Medio tutissmus ibis" (You will go most safely by the middle course)

"Exitus acta probat" (The outcome justifies the deed)

"Fronti nulla fides" (No reliance can be placed on appearance)

"Bellum omium contra omnes" (Everyman's struggle against everyman (from "Leviathan" by Thomas Hobbes))

"Omnia mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis" (All things are changing, and we are changing with them)

"Nemo nisi mors" (No one but death (shall part us))

"primum non nocere" (first do no harm)

"Pacta Sunt Servanda" (Accords (or treaties) should be observed (Basic principle of International Law))

"Qui tacet consentit" (silence implies consent)

"fabas indulcet fames" (literally "hunger sweetens beans" or hunger makes everything taste good!)

"Corruptio optimi pessima" (corruption of the best is worst)

"Res melius evinissent cum Coca" (Things go better with Coke.)

"Nemo dat quod non habet" (No one gives what he doesn't have.)

"Qui potest capere capiat" (Let him accept it who can. Freely: If the shoe fits, wear it.)

"Quod scripsi, scripsi." (What I have written, I have written--Pilate. And he probably did speak in Latin.)

"Contra Felicem vix deus vires habet." (against a lucky man a god scarcely has power.)

"Deus et natua non faciunt frusta" (God and nature do not work together in vain)

"sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt" ((Vergil: the Aeneid: ) these are the tears of things, and our mortality cuts to the heart)

"Mens sibi conscia recti" (a mind conscious of its rectitude)

"Aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem" (remember to keep a calm mind in difficulties)

"Delenda est Carthago" (Carthage must be destroyed)

"Ceterum censeo, Carthago delenda est" (That is my opinion. It is further my opinion, that Carthage must be destroyed (by Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Elder), a Roman Senator))

"Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam" (And therefore, I conclude that Carthage must be destroyed (perhaps most correct)(by Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Elder), a Roman Senator))

"Deus commodo muto consisto quem meus canis sententia existo." (Which, in a very ham-fisted way, with generosity, comes close to being:)

"Meliora Cogito" (I strive for the best")

"O tempora, O mores!" (Oh the times, oh the morals! (Cicero))

"Quemadmoeum gladis nemeinum occidit, occidentis telum est" (A sword is never a killer, it's a tool in the killer's hands")(Lucius Annaeus Seneca "the younger" ca. (4 BC - 65 AD))

"Odi et amo, quare id facere forasse requiris...Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior" (I hated and I love, perhaps you ask why I do it...I don't know, but I feel it and I'm tortured.)

"Tempus amoris cubiculum non est..." (The time for love is not in the bedroom...)

Malum consilium quod mutari non potest. It's a bad plan that can't be changed.(Publilius Syrus 403)

Homines libenter quod volunt credunt. Men freely believe what they want to. (used by Julius Caesar, but probably borrowed from Terentius.)

Qui vult dare parva non debet magna rogare. He who wishes to give little shouldn't ask for much.

Flamma fumo est proxima. Flame follows smoke. (Plautus, Curculio)

Adversus incendia excubias nocturnas vigilesque commentus est. Against the dangers of fires, he (=Augustus) conceived of the idea of night guards and watchmen. (Suetonius, Life of Augustus)

Trahimur omnes studio laudis. We are all attracted by the desire for praise.

Avarus animus nullo satiatur lucro. A greedy mind is satisfied with no (amount of) gain.

Alea iacta est. The die has been cast. (Caesar as he was crossing the Rubicon river )

Exegi monumentum aere perennius. I have erected a monument more lasting than bronze. (Horace)

Fama nihil est celerius. Nothing is swifter than rumor.

Fama volat. Fame has wings.

Mea mihi conscientia pluris est quam omnium sermo. My conscience is more to me than what the world says.

"Modus operandi" (Method of work)

"Ab ovo usque ad mala" (from start to finish (from horsd'oeuvre to dessert))

"Vademecum" (go with me)

"Novus Ordo Seclorum" (new secular order)

"Agnus Dei" (Lamb of God)

annuit coeptis- God has favored us

tabula rasa- a clean slate

cui bono- for whose good (in whose interests)?

sine qua non- necesssity

Conditio sine qua non- condition, necessarily to be fulfilled

caeca invidia est- envy is blind

rara avis- a rare bird

lapsus alumni- error made

dies irae- the Day of Wrath, or Judgment Day

sub rosa- under the rose (i.e. confidentially)

ex cathedra- with authority

Fiat lux. Let there be light (Vulgate Genesis)

Qui tacet consentit. He who is silent agrees.

Fides Punica. Treachery (Livy)

Quid Novi. What's New?

Nullum Gratuitum Prandium. There is no free lunch!

Homo homini lupus. A man to a man is like a wolf

Hic puer est stultissimus omnium! This boy is the stupidest of all!

O di immortales! Good heavens! (uttered by Cicero on the Senate floor.)

Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.(Vergil, Aeneid II.49) Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks, even bearing gifts.

Quidquid id est timeo puellas et oscula dantes. Whatever it is, I fear the girls, even when they kiss.

Venienti occurrite morbo.(Persius, Satires) Meet the misfortune as it comes.

Forsan miseros meliora sequentur.(Virgil) For those in misery perhaps better things will follow.

Multi famam, conscientiam pauci verentur.(Pliny) Many fear their reputation, few their conscience.

Gaudeamus igitur (iuvenes dum sumus). Therefore, let us rejoice (while we are young)

infra dignitatem. undignified (beneath (our) dignity).

lapsus calumni. A slip of the pen

mirabile dictu. Wonderful to say

E Pluribus Unum. One from many

post proelia praemia. After the battles come the rewards

"qualis pater talis filius." (As is the father, so is the son; like father, like son)

"Semper Ubi Sub Ubi" (always wear underwear (This is actually a joke told among students of Latin. It is an incorrect usage ("ubi" really means "where" not "wear") begging a strict translation into English.))

Maxima debetur puero reverentia. We owe the greatest respect to a child.

Uva Uvam Vivendo Varia Fit. Diverse grapes, through time, grow together.

"Alma Mater." (Old school (actual translation - nourishing mother) )

Ad hoc. For one reason

"Alter ego." ("Other 'I'" or "Other Self")

naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret You can drive nature out with a pitchfork but she always comes back. Literally, "Nature can be expelled with a fork, but nevertheless always returns"

Studium discendi voluntate quae cogi non potest constat (Quintilian Institutio Oratoria, iii) Study depends on the good will of the student, a quality which cannot be secured by compulsion.

Vacca foeda. (Stupid cow.)

Die dulci fruere. (Have a nice day.)


Mihi ignosce. Cum homine de cane debeo congredi. (Excuse me. I've got to see a man about a dog.)

Raptus regaliter. (Royally screwed.)



Ne auderis delere orbem rigidum meum! (Don't you dare erase my hard disk!)

Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam. (I have a catapult. Give me all the money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head.)

Gramen artificiosum odi. (I hate Astroturf.)

Furnulum pani nolo. (I don't want a toaster.)

Sentio aliquos togatos contra me conspirare. (I think some people in togas are plotting against me.)

Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione. (I'm not interested in your dopey religious cult.)

Noli me vocare, ego te vocabo. (Don't call me, I'll call you.)

Cave ne ante ullas catapultas ambules. (If I were you, I wouldn't walk in front of any catapults.)

Canis meus id comedit. (My dog ate it.)

Illiud Latine dici non potest. (You can't say that in Latin.)

Vidistine nuper imagines moventes bonas? (Seen any good movies lately?)

Nullo metro compositum est. (It doesn't rhyme.)

Non curo. Si metrum non habet, non est poema. (I don't care. If it doesn't rhyme, it isn't a poem.)

Fac ut gaudeam. (Make my day.)

Braccae illae virides cum subucula rosea et tunica Caledonia-quam elenganter concinnatur! (Those green pants go so well with that pink shirt and the plaid jacket!)

Visne saltare? Viam Latam Fungosam scio. (Do you want to dance? I know the Funky Broadway.)

Utinam barbari spatium proprium tuum invadant! (May barbarians invade your personal space!)

Utinam coniurati te in foro interficiant! (May conspirators assassinate you in the mall!)

Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant! (May faulty logic undermine your entire philosophy!)

Radix lecti. (Couch potato.)

Quo signo nata es? (What's your sign?)

O! Plus! Perge! Aio! Hui! Hem! (Oh! More! Go on! Yes! Ooh! Ummm!)

Spero nos familiares mansuros. (I hope we'll still be friends.)

Tam exanimis quam tunica nehru fio. (I am as dead as the nehru jacket.)

Ventis secundis, tene cursum. (Go with the flow.)

Totum dependeat. (Let it all hang out.)

Te precor dulcissime supplex! (Pretty please with a cherry on top!)

Fac me cocleario vomere! (Gag me with a spoon!)

Te audire non possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure. (I can't hear you. I have a banana in my ear.)

Prehende uxorem meam, sis! (Take my wife, please!)



Latin Sayings   -   Page 1     Page 2     Page 3

"Musica delenit bestiam feram." (Music soothes the savage beast.)

"Amor vincit omnia" (love conquers all)

"Sit vis vobiscum." (May the Force be with you.)

"Veni, Vidi, volo in domum redire." (I came, I saw, I want to go home.)

"Propino tibi salutem!" (Cheers!)

"non scholae sed vitae discimus" (we learn not for school, but for life)

"non omnia possumus omnes" (We all cannot do everything. (As Virgil explains in the Aeneid, no one has expertise in all fields.) )

"ascendo tuum" (Up yours)

"Semper Letteris Mandate" (Always get it in writing!)

"Aquila non copit murem" (the eagle does not catch the mouse, "don't sweat the small things")

"Vultur non capit muscam!" (The eagle does not catch flies)

"Philosophum non facit barba!" (The beard does not define a philosopher)

"quasi" (as if)

"coitus non circum." (No Fucking around)

"Ars sine scientia nihil est" (art without science is nothing (I would also claim that the opposite is true.))

"Anus Equi Volants!" (Flying ass of the horse (Fr. R. Macchietto))

"Huc accedit Zambonis" (Here comes the Zamboni)

"Ne conjugare nobiscum" (Don't fuck with us)

"Per aspera ad astra" (through the thorns to the stars)

"Sunt pueri pueri, puerilia tractant." (Children are children, (therefore) children do childish things)

"nemo me impune laccessit" (no one harms me unpunished (the motto of Scotland for roughly a thousand years or so))

"Infans Jesu invidit assini." (Baby Jesus hates a wise ass)(is yet another concoction, also garbled. It could be "Infans Jesu invidit asinum." (Baby Jesus hates an ass) but even that is not very good Latin.)

"ad alta" (to the summit)

"ad astra" (to the stars)

"Mens sana in corpore sano" (A sound mind in a sound body)

"Aspice, officio fungeris sine spe honoris amplioris." (Face it, you're stuck in a dead end job.)

"in vinculis etiam audax" (in chains yet still bold(free))

"Cum Grano Salis" (With a Grain of Salt.)

"Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit" (perhaps someday we will look back upon these things with joy.)

"Poli, poli, di umbuendo" (Slowly, Slowly we will get there.)

"Ne humanus crede" (Trust no human.)

"Deo Vindice" (God will prove us right (motto of the Confederate States of America))

"Fabricati diem" (Make my day)

"Carpe Canum" (Seize the Dog)

"Aut viam inveniam aut faciam." (I'll either find a way or make one.)

"Ave Caesar imperator, morituri te salutant" (Hail Caesar, those about to die salute you (gladiators before the fight))

"Veni, vidi, deus vicit" (I came, I saw and God has won (Polish king Jan Sobieski after defeating Turkish army on the outskirts of Vienna in XVI century))

"festina lente" (hurry slowly)

"Meum pactum dictum" (My word is my bond)

"Quidvis Recte Factum Quamvis Humile Praeclarum" (Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble)

"Caeli enarrant gloriam Dei" (The heavens declare the glory of God)

"Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae" (There is no one great ability without a mixture of madness)

"Nil actum credens dum quid superesset agendum." (Thinking nothing done, while anything was yet to do.)

"esse est percipi" (being is perception. it is a standardmetaphysical, Mauser quote from his work on phenomenology.)

"deo volente" (It means god willing.)

"ad astra per aspera" (to the stars through difficulty)

"Dona Nobis Pacem" (Grant us peace)

"Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomine Tu o da gloriam" (Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory.)

"Manus manum lavat" ( Hand washes hand, "one hand washes another" or more contemporarily "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours)

"Luctor et emergo" ("I struggle and emerge" or "Struggle and Conquor". It reflects the Dutch struggle with the sea for the last ten centuries or so. It is actually the motto of the Province Zeeland in the southwest of The Netherlands, the same Province New Zealand was named after.)

"Liberate Te Ex Inferis" (Save yourself from hell. (grammatically incorrect but used as an album title by Zao and used in the movie Event Horizon))

"Libera Te Ex Inferis" (Save yourself from hell. (Speaking to one person))

"Liberate Vos Ex Inferis" (Save yourself from hell. (Speaking to more than one persons))

"Requiescat in pace" (rest in peace)

"Drustanus Hic Iacit Cvnomori filius" (Here Lies Drustan, son of [Marcus]Cunomorus, (said to be inscribed on a stone pillare in Cornwall))

"Ignis aurum probat, miseria fortes viros." ( Life is not a bowl of cherries, or, literally, Fire tests gold; adversity tests strong men.)

"Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum Benedicta tu in mullieribus et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus Sancta Maria, Mater Dei Ora pro Nobis, peccatoribus Nunc et in hora mortis nostr¾. Amen." (Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee Blessed art thou amonst women, and blessed in the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us sinners Now and at the hour of our death. Amen)

"Cursum Perficio" (My journey is over.)(also sometimes as "I finish my journey")

"mea culpa" (My fault.)

"Semper Fidelis" (Always Faithful (Motto of the US Marine Corps) )

"Si vis pacem, para bellum." (If you wish for peace, prepare for war.(Flavius Vegetius Renatus c. 375 AD.))

"Romani ite domus" (Roman go home! ---(Monty Phyton's Life of Brian))

"POST FESTUM PESTUM" (Literally "After holidays The Plague", it means The end of Holidays is a shit!)

"nemo surdior est quam is qui non audiet" (No man is more deaf than he who will not hear)

"Mutatis mutandis" (With the necessary changes)

"Non ministrari, sed ministrare" (Not to be served, but to serve)

"Domus in colle" (House on the Hill)

"Deus est intus" (God is Within)

"Si me perdis, te perdam" (Waste me and I'll waste you (a sundial motto))

"Hic si stas, hinc eris" (Here you stay, here you belong (a sundial motto)))

"Solem quis dicere falsum audeat" (Who will dare to say that the sun is wrong? (a sundial motto from Virgil's Georgics))

"Sol tibi signa dabit" (The sun will give you signs (a sundial motto from Virgil's Georgics))

"Commune hoc ignorantiae vitium est: quae nescias, nequicquam esse profiteri" - Leon Battista Alberti: De Re Aedificatoria, VI,2 (A common thing with the ignorant, to despise what they do not understand; James Leoni's translation, London 1726 - this translation is not entirely to the point, either, I feel - a better one might be: "A common vice among ignorants is to reject the idea that there is anything to know")

"De mortiis aut bene aut nihil." (Speak well of the dead or not at all.(a more literal translation would be "Of the dead, well or not at all." I'm not 100% on mortiis, I've found people using it as mortiis, mortibus, and mortuis. The next translation seems to be the best version)

"De mortuis, nihil nisi bonum." (Never speak ill of the dead. (more literal "Of the dead, (say) nothing unless good."))

"Carpe Narem" (Pick your nose)

"Quos vult perdere Jovis prius dementat." (Those whom he wants to destroy, Jupiter first makes angry.)

"Verba volant, scripta manent." (Spoken words fly away, written words remain.)

"Veni, Vidi, Ambulavi." (I came, I saw, I walked.)

"In caecus terrae, luscus rex est." (In the land of the blind, the one-eye-man is king.)

"Cogito, Facio Fio!" (Think it, Do it, Become it!)

"Non urinat in ventum" (Don't piss into the wind)

"Homo sapiens non urinat in ventum" (A wise man doesn't piss into the wind)

"Tempus edax rerums" (Time devours all things (quote from Roman poet Ovid))

"Mors Cum Terrore Novo Venit" (Death has come with a new terror)

Postremo pensandum
Quanta doctrinae commoditas sit in libris
Quam facilis, quam arcana!
Quam tuto libris humanae ignorantia paupertatem
sine verecundia denudamus!
Hi sunt magistri qui nos instruunt
sine virgis et ferula,
sine verbis et cholera, sine pannis et pecunia.
si accedis, non dormiunt;
Si inquirens interrogas, non abscondunt;
Non remurmurant si oberres;
Cachinnos nesciunt, si ignores.
(Richard de BuryPhilobiblon, I, 9)

And finally, one must consider how great the ease of learning
there is in books, how yielding, how trusty !
How safely we reveal, without shyness, in the face of our books
the poverty of our human ignorance !
They are teachers who instruct us without switches or rods,
without slaps or anger, without notice of rags or riches.
If you approach them , they are not asleep;
If you ask a question, they do not hide;
They do not mutter at you if you make a mistake;
When you are ignorant, they do not know how to laugh at you.