Juvenal Quotations

Rare is the union of beauty and purity.

No one ever reached the worst of a vice at one leap

The traveller with empty pockets will sing in the thief 's face.

Censure acquits the raven, but pursues the dove.

For women's tears are but the sweat of eyes.

All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price.

Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another.

Many individuals have, like uncut diamonds, shining qualities beneath a rough exterior.

One globe seemed all too small for the youthful Alexander.

I wish it, I command it. Let my will take the place of a reason.

It is not easy for men to rise whose qualities are thwarted by poverty.

This is his first punishment, that by the verdict of his own heart no guilty man is acquitted.

A child is owed the greatest respect; if you have ever have something disgraceful in mind, don't ignore your son's tender years.

Our virtues are most frequently but vices disguised.

There is hardly a case in which the dispute was not caused by a woman.

No nice extreme a true Italian knows; But bid him go to hell, to hell he goes.

Rarely they rise by virtue's aid who lie plunged in the depth of helpless poverty.

When did reason ever direct our desires or our fears?

Let me moderate our sorrows. The grief of a man should not exceed proper bounds, but be in proportion to the blow he has received. [Lat., Ponamus nimios gemitus: flagrantior aequo Non debet dolor esse viri, nec vulnere major.]

The grape gains its purple tinge by looking at another grape. [Lat., Uvaque conspecta livorem ducit ab uva.]

Examples of vicious courses practiced in a domestic circle corrupt more readily and more deeply when we behold them in persons in authority.

The dowry, not the wife, is the object of attraction.

Nobody ever became depraved all at once. [Lat., Nemo repente fuit turpissimus.]

The grape becomes tinted from the grape it comes in contact with.

The itch of scribbling.

The only gain from the friendship of the great is a fine dinner.

The man whose purse is empty can cheerfully sing before the robber.

Give up all hope of peace so long as your mother-in-law is alive.

The smell of money is good, come whence it may. [Alluding to Vespasian's tax on ordure.]

To lay down one's life for the truth.

No god is absent where prudence dwells.

No other protection is wanting, provided you are under the guidance of prudence.

One has no protecting power save prudence. [Lat., Nullum numen habes si sit prudentia.]

A pauper traveller will sing before a beggar.

An excess of hoarded wealth is the death of many.

An undying hatred, and a wound never to be healed.

Be a gentleman farmer.

They whose sole bliss is eating can give but that one brutish reason why they live.

A third heir seldom profits by ill-gotten wealth.

When great assurance accompanies a bad undertaking, such is often mistaken for confiding sincerity by the world at large.

A hairy body, and arms stiff with bristles, give promise of a manly soul.

Every man's credit is proportioned to the money which he has in his chest. [Lat., Quantum quisque sua nummorum condit in area, Tantum habet et fidei.]

The guilty are alarmed and turn pale at the slightest thunder.

Many suffer from the incurable disease of writing, and it becomes chronic in their sick minds.

Sit mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body)

Only death reveals what a nothing the body of man is.

The noiseless foot of Tune steals swiftly by And ere we dream of manhood, age is nigh.

When the mischief is done the door is shut.

It is difficult not to write satire.

To gain a livelihood at the expense of all that makes life worth the having.

Those things please more, which are more expensive.

Do you expect, forsooth, that a mother will hand down to her children principles which differ from her own?

There is no reliance to be placed on appearance.

Virture offers the only path in this life that leads to tranquility.

Dedicate one's life to truth

No man becomes bad all at once.

There's no effrontery like that of a woman caught in the act; her very guilt inspires her with wrath and insolence.

A man's word Is believed just to the extent of the wealth in his coffers stored.

Majestic mighty Wealth is the holiest of our gods.

From where can your authority and license as a parent come from, when you who are old, do worse things?

Like warmed-up cabbage served at each repast, The repetition kills the wretch at last.

Honesty's praised, then left to freeze.

The greatest reverence is due to a child! If you are contemplating a disgraceful act, despise not your child's tender years.

What day is so festal it fails to reveal some theft?

Nature, in giving tears to man, confessed that he Had a tender heart; this is our noblest quality.

Some men make money not for the sake of living, but ache In the blindness of greed and live just for their fortune's sake.

The tongue is the vile slave's vilest part.

He who wishes to become rich wishes to become so immediately.

Common sense among men of fortune is rare.

A third heir seldom enjoys what has been dishonestly acquired.

Vice deceives us when dressed in the garb of virtue.

What is more cruel than a tyrant's ear?

Rare indulgence produces greater pleasure.

Every great house is full of haughty servants.

Many have an irresistible itch for writing.

Revenge, we find, the abject pleasure of an abject mind.

Man, wretched man, whene'er he stoops to sin, Feels, with the act, a strong remorse within.

Limits the Romans' anxieties to two things - bread and games.

A woman is most merciless when shame goads on her hate

For He, who gave this vast machine to roll, Breathed Life in then, in us a Reasoning Soul; That kindred feelings might our state improve, And mutual wants conduct to mutual love.

Everything is Greek, when it is more shameful to be ignorant of Latin.

Fond man! though all the heroes of your line Bedeck your halls, and round your galleries shine In proud display; yet take this truth from me-- Virtue alone is true nobility!

I will it, I order it, let my will stand for a reason.

This is my wish, this is my command, my pleasure is my reason

It is unmistakable madness to live in poverty only to die rich.

The greatest hardship of poverty is that it tends to make men ridiculous.

It is but the weak and little mind that rejoices in revenge

The skilful class of flatterers praise the discourse of an ignorant friend and the face of a deformed one.

Never does nature say one thing and Wisdom another. Variant: Wisdom and Nature! are they not the same? Variant: Nature and Wisdon always speak alike.

Of what use are pedigrees, or to be thought of noble blood, or the display of family portraits, O Ponticus?

For whoever meditates a crime is guilty of the deed.

Travelers with naught sing in the robber's face

All arts his own, the hungry Greekling counts; And bid him mount the skies, the skies he mounts.

Generally, common sense is rare in the (higher) rank.

Luxury is more deadly than any foe.

There's a lust in man, no charm can tame, of loudly publishing our neighbor's shame.

In the present state of the world it is difficult not to write lampoons.

Satire is what closes Saturday night.

The fisherman could perhaps be bought for less than the fish.

Every fault of the mind becomes more conspicuous and more guilty in proportion to the rank of the offender