Classics ~ Sayings ~ Proverbial

PROVERBIAL

ἀετὸς οὐ θηρεύσει τὰς μυίας.

An eagle will not catch flies.

ἀκρὸν λάβε, καὶ μέσον ἕξεις.

Seize what is highest, and you will possess what is in between.

ἅλμη οὐκ ἔνεστιν αὐτῷ.

There is no salt in him.

ἀναφαίρετον κτῆμ' ἐστὶ παιδεία βροτοῖς.

Education is a possession which cannot be taken away from men.

ἀνὴρ φιλόπονος καὶ φιλαληθής.

A labour-loving and truth-loving man.

[ Ptolemy’s description of Hipparchus ]

ἄρχων οὐδεὶς ἁμαρτάνει τότε ὅταν ἄρχων ᾖ.

No ruler does wrong as long as he is a ruler.

γνῶθι σεαυτόν.

Know thyself.

[ Carved into the portico of the temple at Delphi. Attributed to Solon. ]

δίδου μοι τὴν σήμερον, καὶ λάμβανε τὴν αὔριον.

Give me today, and take tomorrow.

δός τι, καὶ λάβε τι.

Give and take.

εἷς ἀνὴρ οὐδεὶς ἀνήρ.

One man is no man.

ἐκ τοῦ ὁρᾶν γίγνεται τὸ ἐρᾶν.

From seeing comes loving.

ἐν οἴνῳ ἀλήθεια.

In wine there is truth.

εὐτυχία πολύφιλος.

Success is much befriended.

ζῶμεν οὐχ ὡς θέλομεν, ἀλλ' ὡς δυνάμεθα.

We live not as we desire, but as we can.

ἡ σοφίας πηγὴ διὰ βιβλίων ῥέει.

The fountain of wisdom flows through books.

ἰατρεῖον ψυχῆς.

Doctor's clinic for the soul.

[ Inscription on a library ]

ἱστορία φιλοσοφία ἐστὶν ἐκ παραδειγμάτων.

History is philosophy derived from examples.

ἰχθὺς ἐκ τῆς κεφαλῆς ὄζειν ἔρχεται.

Fish begins to stink from the head.

κλύζει θάλασσα πάντα τῶν ἀνθρώπων κακά.

The sea washes away all the woes of men.

κούφη γῆ τοῦτον καλύπτοι.

May the earth be light upon him.

[ Form of Grecian epitaph ]

λίμος δὲ πολλῶν γίγνεται διδάσκαλος.

Hunger is the instructor of many.

μεγάλη πόλις μεγάλη ἐρημία.

A great city is a great solitude.

μὴ κίνει Καμαρίναν.

Do not stir Lake Camarina.

[ Lake Camarina caused a pestilence through a futile attempt to drain it. ]

μὴ πρὸ τῆς νίκης ἐγκώμιον.

Let not the praise be before the victory.

μὴ πῦρ ἐπὶ πῦρ.

Do not add fire to fire.

μηδὲν ἄγαν.

Nothing too much [Nothing in excess].

[ Carved into the portico of the temple at Delphi ]

μικρὰ πρόφασίς ἐστι τοῦ πρᾶξαι κακῶς.

A slight pretext suffices for doing evil.

μόνος ὁ σοφὸς ἐλεύθερος, καὶ πᾶς ἄφρων δοῦλος.

The wise man alone is free, and every fool is a slave.

[ Stoic maxim ]

ξύλον ἀγκύλον οὐδέποτ' ὀρθόν.

A crooked stick can never be made straight.

ὁ φεύγων μύλον ἄλφιτα φεύγει.

Who shuns the millstone shuns the meal.

οἱ διψῶντες σιωπῇ πίνουσι.

Those who are thirsty drink in silence.

ὄνος πρὸς λύραν.

An ass before the harp [i.e. a person unmoved by music, art, or higher things].

οὐ γνῶσις, ἀλλὰ πρᾶξις.

Not knowledge, but practice.

οὐδὲν πρὸς ἔπος.

Nothing to the purpose.

πάντα ῥεῖ.

Everything flows.

[ Philosophical principle of Heraclitus ]

πάντες κακοὶ δοῦλοι.

All bad men are slaves.

[ Stoic maxim ]

περὶ παντὸς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν.

Above all, Liberty.

[ Motto of John Selden ]

πλοῦτος ὁ τῆς ψυχῆς πλοῦτος μόνος ἐστιν ἀληθής.

The wealth of the mind is the only true wealth.

πολλαὶ μὲν θνητοῖς γλῶτται, μία δ' ἀθανάτοισιν.

Mortals have many languages, the immortals one.

πολλοὶ μαθηταὶ κρείττονες διδασκάλων.

Many learn more than their teachers [i.e. eclipse their tutors].

[ Greek poet, quoted by Cicero ]

πολλῶν ἰατρῶν εἰσοδός μ' ἀπώλεσεν.

The visits of many physicians have killed me.

[ Epitaph ]

πομφόλυξ ὁ ἄνθρωπος.

Man is a bubble.

ῥῆμα παρὰ καιρὸν ῥηθὲν ἀνατρέπει βίον.

A word out of season may mar the course of a whole life.

σκληρόν σοι πρὸς κέντρα λακτίζειν.

It is hard for you to kick against the pricks.

[ Quoted in Acts 26, 14 ]

σπεῦδε βραδέως.

Hasten slowly.

τὶ κοινὸν κυνὶ καὶ βαλανείῳ;

What has a dog to do with a bath?

τὶ τυφλῷ καὶ κατόπτρῳ;

What has a blind man to do with a mirror?

τὸ γὰρ ἡδὺ, ἐὰν πολὺ, οὔ τί γε ἡδύ.

For that which is sweet, if it is often repeated, is no longer sweet.

τοῦ ἀριστεύειν ἕνεκα.

For the sake of excelling.

[ Motto of the Henniker family ]

ὕστερον πρότερον.

The latter becomes the former [i.e. the cart before the horse].

χεὶρ χεῖρα νίπτει, δάκτυλός τε δάκτυλον.

Hand washes hand, and finger finger.

ὡς κάκιστον θηρίον ἐστὶν ἡ γαστήρ.

What a most vile beast is the belly.

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