Plautus
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus, commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus. The word Plautine /ˈplɔːtaɪn/ refers to both Plautus's own works and works similar to or influenced by his...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionPlaywright
courage men want
It does not matter a feather whether a man be supported by patron or client, if he himself wants courage. [Lat., Animus tamen omnia vincit. Ille etiam vires corpus habere facit.]
courage battle bonus
Courage in danger is half the battle. [Lat., Bonus animus in mala re, dimidium est mali.]
death perception god-love
He whom the gods love dies young, whilst he is full of health, perception, and judgment. [Lat., Quem dii diligunt, Adolescens moritur, dum valet, sentit, sapit.]
evil done bitter
How bitter it is to reap a harvest of evil for good that you have done! [Lat., Ut acerbum est, pro benefactis quom mali messem metas!]
evil minimum
Out of many evils the evil which is least is the least of evils. [Lat., E malis multis, malum, quod minimum est, id minimum est malum.]
mistake eye weight
One eye-witness is of more weight than ten hearsays. Those who hear, speak of shat they have heard; whose who see, know beyond mistake. [Lat., Pluris est oculatus testis unus, quam auriti decem. Qui audiunt, audita dicunt; qui vident, plane sciunt.]
men prudent fortune
The prudent man really frames his own fortunes for himself.
riches delight used
Riches, rightly used, breed delight.
affair fortune mould
Fortune moulds and circumscribes human affairs as she pleases. [Lat., Fortuna humana fingit artatque ut lubet.]
beauty men handsome
It is a great plague to be too handsome a man. [Lat., Nimia est miseria nimis pulchrum esse hominem.]
moving dumb bells
The Bell never rings of itself; unless some one handles or moves it it is dumb. [Lat., Nunquam aedepol temere tinniit tintinnabulum; Nisi quis illud tractat aut movet, mutum est, tacet.]
arrogance prosperity
Arrogance is the outgrowth of prosperity.
smooth
Smooth words in place of gifts. [Lat., Dicta docta pro datis.]
gossip ears tongue
Tattletales, and those who listen to their slander, by my good will, should all be hanged. The former by their tongues, the latter by their ears. [Lat., Homines qui gestant, quique auscultant crimina, si meo arbitratu liceat, omnes pendeant gestores linguis, auditores auribus.]