Latin Quotes

“Non est ad astra mollis e terris via" - "There is no easy way from the earth to the stars”
― Seneca

“All hope abandon, ye who enter here.”
― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

“Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus

[never tickle a sleeping dragon]”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

“Pulvis et umbra sumus. (We are but dust and shadow.)”
― Horace, The Odes of Horace

“Cogito ergo sum. (I think, therefore I am.)”
― René Descartes

“Non nobis solum nati sumus.

(Not for ourselves alone are we born.)”
― Marcus Tullius Cicero

“Not to know what has been transacted in former times is to be always a child. If no use is made of the labours of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge.”
― Marcus Tullius Cicero

“There's no such thing as dead languages, only dormant minds.”
― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

“Fas est ab hoste doceri.
One should learn even from one's enemies.”
― Ovid, Metamorphoses

“Omnia mutantur, nihil interit (everything changes, nothing perishes).”
― Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses

“You're kidding. I thought all geniuses read Latin. Isn't that the international language for smart people?"-Shane (Glass Houses)”
― Rachel Caine, Glass Houses

“VI VERI VENIVERSUM VIVUS VICI.
By the Power of Truth, I, while living, have Conquered the Universe.”
― Alan Moore, V for Vendetta #2

“Ut haec ipsa qui non sentiat deorum vim habere is nihil omnino sensurus esse videatur."

If any man cannot feel the power of God when he looks upon the stars, then I doubt whether he is capable of any feeling at all.”
― Horace

“Aut viam inveniam aut faciam tibi.

I will either find a way or make one.”
― Kendall Ryan, Unravel Me

“Per aspera ad astra, Papa,' I whispered. Through hardship to the stars.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“Status quo, you know, is Latin for 'the mess we're in'.”
― Ronald Reagan

“What do you think that fish is?' Sam asked Astrid.
She peered closely at the alleged fish. 'I think that's an example of Pesce inedibilis,' she said.
'Yeah?' Sam made a face. 'Do you think it's okay to eat?'
Astrid sighed theatrically. 'Pesce inedibilis? Inedible? Joke, duh. Try to keep up, Sam, I made that really easy for you.'
Sam smiled. 'You know, a real genius would have known I wouldn't get it. Ergo, you are not a real genius. Hah. That's right. I threw down an 'ergo.''
She gave him a pitying look. 'That's very impressive, Sam. Especially from a boy who has twenty-two different uses for the word 'dude.”
― Michael Grant, Lies

“Ronan's smile was sharp and hooked as one of the creature's claws. "'A sword is never a killer; it is a tool in the killer's hand'."

"I can't believe Noah didn't stick around to help."

"Sure you can. Never trust the dead.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, The Dream Thieves

“Omnia Mutantur, Nihil Interit. 'Everything changes, but nothing is truly lost.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 10: The Wake

“Can't you see that I'm only advising you to beg yourself not to be so dumb?”
― Petronius, The Satyricon

“Facilis descensus Averno
Noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis
Sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras
Hoc opus labor est”
― Cassandra Clare, City of Glass

“A man leaves his great house because he's bored
With life at home, and suddenly returns,
Finding himself no happier abroad.
He rushes off to his villa driving like mad,
You'ld think he's going to a house on fire,
And yawns before he's put his foot inside,
Or falls asleep and seeks oblivion,
Or even rushes back to town again.
So each man flies from himself (vain hope, because
It clings to him the more closely against his will)
And hates himself because he is sick in mind
And does not know the cause of his disease.”
― Lucretius

“Pactum serva" - "Keep the faith”
― Horace

“Haec ego non multis (scribo), sed tibi: satis enim magnum alter alteri theatrum sumus. I am writing this not to many, but to you: certainly we are a great enough audience for each other.”
― Epicurus

“Carved above the lintel were the words SCIENTIA POTESTAS EST. Science points east, I wondered? Science is portentous, yes? Science protests too much. Scientific potatoes rule. Had I stumbled on the lair of dangerous plant geneticists?”
― Ben Aaronovitch, Midnight Riot

“Saepe creat molles aspera spina rosas" - "Often the prickly thorn produces tender roses”
― Ovid

“I totally carpe-d the snot out of this diem!”
― Jerry Scott

“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships/And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?”
― Christoper Marlowe, The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus

“Veni, vidi, flevi.

I came. I saw. I cried.”
― Dorian Cirrone, Prom Kings and Drama Queens

“He called it potentia because there's nothing quite like Latin for disguising the fact you're making it up as you go along.”
― Ben Aaronovitch, Foxglove Summer