-
If there are none [gods], All our toil is without meaning.
-
Waste not fresh tears over old griefs.
-
That mortal is a fool who, prospering, thinks his life has any strong foundation; since our fortune's course of action is the reeling way a madman takes, and no one person is ever happy all the time.
-
What greater pain could mortals have than this: To see their children dead before their eyes?
-
Dishonor will not trouble me, once I am dead.
-
The brave venture anything.
-
No one can confidently say that he will still be living tomorrow.
-
Cleverness is not wisdom.
-
Let a man accept his destiny, No pity and no tears.
-
The wavering mind is but a base possession.
-
None wise dares hopeless venture.
-
I know indeed what evil I intend to do, but stronger than all my afterthoughts is my fury, fury that brings upon mortals the greatest evils.
-
Doth some one say that there be gods above? There are not; no, there are not. Let no fool, Led by the old false fable, thus deceive you. Look at the facts themselves, yielding my words, No undue credence: for I say that kings kill, rob, break oaths, lay cities waste by fraud, And doing thus are happier than those, Who live calm pious lives day after day. All divinity is built-up from our good and evil luck.
-
Moderation, the noblest gift of Heaven.
-
Those whose cause is just will never lack good arguments.
-
Evil men by their own nature cannot ever prosper.
-
Again, a smooth answer, signifying nothing.
-
Do not grieve so much for a husband lost that it wastes away your life.
-
Venus, thy eternal sway All the race of men obey. Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis. He is not a lover who does not love for ever.
-
The God knows when to smile.
-
A bad ending follows a bad beginning.
-
I care for riches, to make gifts To friends, or lead a sick man back to health With ease and plenty. Else small aid is wealth For daily gladness; once a man be done With hunger, rich and poor are all as one.
-
When someone isn't seen for a long time, Well, folk soon begin to imagine the worst.
-
Silver and gold are not the only coin; virtue too passes current all over the world.