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
men remember forget
Remind a man of what he remembers, and you will make him forget it.
please
That least pleases us which is most urged on us.
knows
That which you know, know not; and that which you see, see not.
husband wife enemy
That wife is an enemy to her husband who is given in marriage against her will.
winning games loses
There are games in which it is better to lose than win.
simple hands unjust
To ask that which is unjust at the hands of the just, is an injustice in itself; to expect that which is just from the unjust, is simple folly.
gains
To make any gain some outlay is necessary.
mud manners fine
Vulgarity of manners defiles fine garments more than mud.
envy spiteful wells
It is the nature of the unfortunate to be spiteful, and to envy those who are well to do.
hounds folly unwilling
It is sheer folly to take unwilling hounds to the chase.
kindness men purpose
It is not without a purpose when a rich man greets a poor one with kindness.
taken
He who is most on his guard is often himself taken in.
casts ifs precipice
He who rushes headlong into love will fare worse than if he had cast himself from a precipice.
undone ruined
I am undone! I have smashed the waggon. [I have ruined all.]