[F]acias ipse quod faciamus nobis suades. (Practice yourself what you preach.) ~Asinaria, Act III, scene 3, line 54.
Titus Maccius Plautus (254 BC – 184 BC), born at Sarsina, Emilia-Romagna, was a comic playwright in the time of the Roman Republic. The years of his life are uncertain, but his plays were first produced between about 205 BC and 184 BC.
The face that thou shalt smite in earnest is bound thereafter to be boneless.
Amphitryon, Act I, scene 1.
Satin parva res est voluptatum in vita atque in aetate agunda praequam quod molestum est?
Oh, are not the pleasures in life, in this daily round, trifling compared with the pains!
Amphitryon, Act II, scene 2.
[V]irtus praemium est optimum ; virtus omnibus remus anteit profecto : libertas salus vita res et parentes, patria et prognati tutantur, servantur : virtus omnia in sese habet, omnia adsunt bona quem penest virtus.
Valour’s the best reward ; ‘tis valour that surpasses all things else : our liberty, our safety, life, estate, our parents, children, country, are by this preserved, protected : valour everything comprises in itself ; andevery good awaits the man who is possess’d of valour. (translator Thornton)
Amphitryon, Act II, scene 2, line 16.
Variant translation:Courage is the very best gift of all; courage stands before everything, it does, it does! It is what maintains and preserves our liberty, safety, life, and our homes and parents, our country and children. Courage comprises all things: a man with courage has every blessing.
In one hand he is carrying a stone, while he shows bread with the other.
Alternate translation:And so he thinks to ‘tice me like a dog, by holding bread in one hand, and a stone, ready to knock my brains out, in the other.
Aulularia, line 195 (Act II, sc. 2, line 18)
Cf.Jesus,Matthew 7:9: "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?"
Pol si est animus aequos tibi, sat habes qui bene vitam colas.
If you are but content, you have enough to live upon with comfort.
Aulularia, line 187 (Act II, sc. 2, line 10)
Quid opust verbis? facta est pugna in gallo gallinacio.
I had a regular battle with the dunghill-cock.
Aulularia, line 472 (Act III, sc. 4, 13); reported inBartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Non temere est quod corvos cantat mihi nunc ab laeva manu
It was not for nothing that the raven was just now croaking on my left hand.
Aulularia, line 624 (Act iv, sc. 3, 1); reported inBartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). Referenced in "That raven on yon left-hand oak/(Curse on his ill-betiding croak!)/Bodes me no good",John Gay, ''Fables, Part I,The Farmer’s Wife and the Raven.
Menæchmi, Act II, sc. 1, line 22; reported inBartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). A proverbial expression implying a desire to create doubts and difficulties where there really were none. It occurs inTerence, the "Andria", act v. sc. 4, 38; also inEnnius, "Saturæ", 46.
Ut cuique homini res parata est, firmi amici sunt : si res labat, itidem amici collabascunt. Res amicos invenit.
According as men thrive, their friends are true; if their affairs go to wreck, their friends sink with them. Fortune finds friends.
Variant translation:According as men thrive, their friends are true; if fortune fails, friends likewise disappear. Prosperity finds friends. (translator unknown)
Keep what you’ve got ; the evil that we know is best. (translator Thornton)
Trinummus, Act I, scene 2, lines 25
Quod tuum’st, meum’st; omne meum est autem tuum.
For what is yours is mine, and mine is yours.
Trinummus, Act II, sc. 2, line 47.
Non aetate, verum ingenio apiscitur sapientia.
Not by age but by capacity is wisdom acquired.
Trinummus, Act II, sc. 2, line 88.
Non optuma haec sunt neque ut ego aequom censeo : verum meliora sunt quam quae deterruma.
These things are not for the best, nor as I think they ought to be; but still they are better than that which is downright bad. (translator Henry Thomas Riley)
Trinummus, Act II, sc. 2, line 111; reported inBartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Alternate translation :This is not the best thing possible, nor what I consider proper ; but it is better than the worst. (translator A. H. Evans)
Non tibi illud apparere, si sumas, potest, nisi tu immortale rere esse argentum tibi. Sero atque stulte, prius quod cautum oportuit, postquam comedit rem, post rationem putat.
You cannot eat your cake and have it too, unless you think your money is immortal. The fool too late, his substance eaten up, reckons the cost. (translator Thornton)
Trinummus, Act II, scene 4, lines 12
Nequam illud verbum‘st, Bene vult, nisi qui bene facit.
That expression, "He means well," is useless unless he does well.
The valiant profit more Their country, than the finest cleverest speakers.
Truculentus, Act II, scene ii
Pluris est oculatus testis unus, quam auriti decem. Qui audiunt, audita dicunt: qui vident, plane sciunt.
One eyewitness weighs more than ten hearsays. Seeing is believing, all the world over.
Truculentus, Act II, sc. 6, line 8.
Cogitato, mus pusillus quam sit sapiens bestia, aetatem qui uni cubili nunquam committit suam : quia si unum ostium obsideatur, aliud perfugium gerit.
But ne’ertheless reflect, the little mouse, how sage a brute it is! Who never trusts its safety to one hole : for when it finds one entrance is block’d up, it has secure some other outlet.
Truculentus, Act IV, sc. iv, line 15.
Variant translation:Consider the little mouse, how sagacious an animal it is which never entrusts its life to one hole only. (translator unknown)