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Publilius Syrus

Publilius (less correctly Publius) Syrus, a Latin writer of mimes, flourished in the 1st century BC. He was a native of Syria and was brought as a slave to Italy, but by his wit and talent he won the favour of his master, who freed and educated him.

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A bad man becomes worse when he apes a saint.

A fair exterior is a silent recommendation.

A favor is half granted, when graciously refused.

A friend must not be injured, even in jest.

A gift in season is a double favor to the needy.

A god could hardly love and be wise.

A good opportunity is seldom presented, and is easily lost.

A good reputation is more valuable than money.

A great fortune enslaves its owner.

A guilty conscience never feels secure.

A hasty judgment is a first step to recantation.

A kindness spontaneously offered to him who needs it, is doubly gratifying.

A loss, of which we are ignorant, is no loss.

A man suffers death himself as often as he loses those dear to him.

A pleasant traveling companion helps us on our journey as much as a carriage.

A pleasing countenance is a silent commendation.

A position of dignity is more easily improved upon than acquired.

A rolling stone gathers no moss.

A rooster has great influence on his own dunghill.

A sly piece of good luck, which nobody knows of is delightful.

A suspicious mind always looks on the black side of things.

A tongue prone to slander is the proof of a depraved mind.

A virtuous wife commands her husband by obeying him.

A wise man never refuses anything to necessity.

A woman either loves of hates.

Admonish your friends in private; praise them in public.

Alas! how difficult it is to retain glory!

All delay is irksome, but it teaches us wisdom.

All powerful is the rule of fashion.

Amid a multitude of projects, no plan is devised.

An agreeable companion on a journey is as good as a carriage.

An angry father is most cruel towards himself.

An angry man, when he returns to reason, will be again angry with himself.

An evil gain equals a loss.

An intemperate patient makes a harsh doctor.

Any plan is bad which is incapable of modification.

Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.

As men, we are all equal in the presence of death.

Better be ignorant of a matter than half know it.

Better use medicines at the outset than at the last moment.

Beware the fury of a patient man.

By hesitation the opportunity is often lost.

Clean hands are better than full ones in the sight of God.

Confession of our faults is the next thing to innocency.

Conversation is the image of the mind; as the man, so is his speech.

Count not him among your friends who will retail your privacies to the world.

Danger comes the sooner when we treat it with contempt.

Debt is the slavery of the free.

Do not care how many, but whom, you please.

Do not turn back when you are just at the goal.

Each day is the scholar of yesterday.

Even a single hair casts its shadow.

Even speed, when we are anxious, seems like delay.

Even to smile at the misfortunes of others is to do an injury.

Even when the wound is healed the scar remains.

Every accusation against a fallen man gains credence.

Every day should be passed as if it were to be our last.

Every madman considers everyone else a madman.

Every one excels in something in which another fails.

Every rumor is believed against the unfortunate.

Every vice has its excuse ready.

Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Flattery was formerly a vice; it has now become the fashion.

For a good cause, wrongdoing is virtuous.

Fortune is like glass – the brighter the glitter, the more easily broken.

Fortune is never satisfied with bringing one sorrow.

Fortune, by being too lavish of her favours on a man, only makes a fool of him.

God looks at pure, not full, hands.

Good health and good sense are two of life's greatest blessings.

Grief diminishes when it has nothing to grow upon.

Handsome features are a silent recommendation.

Hares can gambol over the body of a dead lion.

Hasty conclusions lead to speedy repentance.

He bids fair to grow wise who has discovered that he is not so.

He blames Neptune unjustly who twice suffers shipwreck.

He dies twice who perishes by his own weapons.

He gets through too late who goes too fast.

He hurts the absent who quarrels with a drunken man.

He hurts the good who spares the bad.

He is safe from danger who is on his guard even when safe.

He is the least in want who is the least covetous.

He is truly wise who gains wisdom from another's mishap.

He is twice a conqueror, who can restrain himself in the hour of triumph.

He knows not when to be silent who knows not when to speak.

He must of necessity fear many whom many fear.

He sleeps well who knows not that he sleeps ill.

He who fears his servants is less than a servant.

He who flees from trial confesses his guilt.

He who gets the better of an irascible temperament conquers his worst enemy.

He who has plenty of pepper will pepper his cabbage.

He who injures one man threatens many.

He who is bent on doing evil can never want occasion.

He who leaves a fault unpunished invites crime.

He who overlooks a fault, invites the commission of another.

He who quarrels with a drunken man injures one who is absent.

He who sounds his own trumpet will soon find plenty to laugh at him.

He who spares the wicked injures the good.

He who will not grant a favour has no right to ask one.

He who wishes to injure another, will soon find a pretext.

His own character is the arbiter of every one's fortune.

How happy the life unembarrassed by the cares of business!

How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself.

I have often regretted having spoken, never having kept silent.

If what must be given is given willingly the kindness is doubled.

If you refuse where you have always granted you invite to theft.

If you share the crime of your friend, you make it your own.

If you wish to reach the highest, begin at the lowest.

In a heated argument we are apt to lose sight of the truth.

In doubtful matters boldness is everything.

In excessive altercation, truth is lost.

It is a bad plan that admits of no modification.

It is a consolation to the wretched to have companions in misery.

It is a fraud to borrow what we are unable to pay.

It is a most miserable lot to be without an enemy.

It is a very hard undertaking to seek to please everybody.

It is a wretched thing to suffer at the hand of one of whom we cannot complain.

It is an unhappy lot which finds no enemies.

It is as well now and then not to remember all we know.

It is better to have a little than nothing.

It is better to learn late than never.

It is easier to get a favour from fortune than to keep it.

It is easy for men to talk one thing and think another.

It is folly to fear what cannot be avoided.

It is good to see in the misfortunes of others what we should avoid.

It is kindness immediately to refuse what you intend to deny.

It is more tolerable to be refused than deceived.

It is no profit to have learned well, if you neglect to do well.

It is not every question that deserves an answer.

It is only the ignorant who despise education.

It is prudent to learn what to avoid from the misfortunes of others.

It is sometimes expedient to forget what you know.

It is vain to look for a defence against lightning.

It is well not to lend too easy an ear to accusations.

It is well to moor your boat with two anchors.

It matters not how long you live, but how well.

It matters not what you are thought to be, but what you are.

It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity.

Keep the golden mean between saying too much and too little.

Learn to see in another's calamity the ills which you should avoid.

Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage.

Little does the sick man consult his own interests, who makes his physician his heir.

Look for a tough wedge for a tough log.

Look to be treated by others as you have treated others.

Love's wounds can be healed only by the one who inflicts them.

Man has been lent, not given, to life.

Many receive advice, only the wise profit by it.

Modesty once lost, never returns into favour.

Money alone sets all the world in motion.

Necessity knows no law except to conquer.

Never find your delight in another's misfortune.

Never promise more than you can perform.

Never thrust your own sickle into another's corn.

No fortune is so good but that you may find something to grumble about.

No good man ever became suddenly rich.

No hour brings good fortune to one man without bringing misfortune to another.

No man is happy unless he believes he is.

No man is happy who does not think himself so.

No one knows what he can do till he tries.

No one reaches a high position without daring.

No one should be judge in his own cause.

No pleasure endures unseasoned by variety.

No tears are shed when an enemy dies.

Nothing can be done at once hastily and prudently.

Nothing pleases which is not freshened by variety.

O life! long to the wretched, short to the happy.

One man's wickedness may easily become all men's curse.

One ungrateful man does an injury to all who are suffering.

Pardon one offense, and you encourage the commission of many.

Patience is the remedy for every misfortune.

Patience provoked often turns to fury.

Patience, when too often outraged, is converted into madness.

Poverty wants much; but avarice, everything.

Powerful indeed is the empire of habit.

Practice is the best of all instructors.

Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them.

Ready tears are a sign of treachery, not of grief.

Repentance follows hasty counsels.

Society in shipwreck is a comfort to all.

Some remedies are worse than the disease itself.

Speech is a mirror of the soul: as a man speaks, so is he.

Straining breaks the bow, and relaxation relieves the mind.

Take care not to begin anything of which you may repent.

Take care that no one hates you justly.

That delay is our surest protection which enables us to deliberate on the merits of our intentions.

That is a very wretched fortune which has no enemy.

That should be considered long which can be decided but once.

That should be regarded as a loss, which is won at the expense of our reputation.

The anger of lovers renews the strength of love.

The bow too tensely strung is easily broken.

The brave or the fortunate can afford to laugh at envy.

The circumstances of others seem good to us, while ours seem good to others.

The coward calls himself cautious, the miser thrifty.

The end always passes judgement on what has gone before.

The eyes are not responsible when the mind does the seeing.

The eyes see not what is before them when the mind is intent on other matters.

The fear of death is more to be dreaded than death itself.

The gods never let us love and be wise at the same time.

The grief of an heir is only masked laughter.

The habitual living in prosperity is most injurious.

The happy man is not he who seems thus to others, but who seems thus to himself.

The highest condition takes rise in the lowest.

The highest power may be lost by misrule.

The honied tongue hath its poison.

The judge is condemned when the guilty is acquitted.

The loss which is unknown is no loss at all.

The malevolent have hidden teeth.

The miser is as much in want of what he has, as of what he has not.

The more skilful the gambler, the worse the man.

The next day is never so good as the day before.

The opportunity is often lost by deliberating.

The property of others is always more inviting than our own; and that which we ourselves possess is most pleasing to others.

The swiftness of time is infinite, which is the more evident to those who look back on what has passed.

The timid man calls himself cautious, the sordid man thrifty.

The too constant use even of good things is hurtful.

The wise man avoids evil by anticipating it.

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.

There are some remedies worse than the disease.

They who plough the sea do not carry the winds in their hands.

Tis foolish to fear what you cannot avoid.

To accept a favor is to sell one's freedom.

To do two things at once is to do neither.

To have acquired wealth is with many not to end but to change the nature of their troubles.

To love is a pleasure of youth, a sin in old age.

To refuse graciously is to confer a favor.

Today is the pupil of yesterday.

Treat your friend as if he might become an enemy.

Unless degree is preserved, the first place is safe for no one.

Unless you bear with the faults of a friend, you betray your own.

Valor grows by daring, fear by holding back.

We are interested in others when they are interested in us.

We desire nothing so much as what we ought not to have.

We may escape misfortune for a while, but the evil day will come.

We may with advantage forget what we know.

We must give lengthy deliberation to what has to be decided once and for all.

We should provide in peace what we need in war.

We simply rob ourselves when we make presents to the dead.

Well does he sleep who knows not that his sleep has been broken.

What he has is of no more use to the miser than that which he has not.

What is left when honour is lost?

What is to be once resolved on should be first often well considered.

Whatever you can lose, you should reckon of no account.

When a woman is undisguisedly bad, then indeed she is good.

When fortune favors a man too much, she makes him a fool.

When Fortune flatters, she does it to betray.

When Fortune is on our side, popular favour bears her company.

When two do the same thing, it is not the same thing after all.

Whom Fortune wishes to destroy she first makes mad.

You are in a pitiable condition when you have to conceal what you wish to tell.

You betray your own failing if you cannot bear with the fault of a friend.

You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by force.

You cannot put the same shoe on every foot.

You must endure what is painful to secure that which is profitable.

You must endure, and not cry out against that which cannot be avoided.

You must make a lover angry if you wish him to love.

You need not hang up the ivy branch over the wine that will sell.

You should go to a pear tree for pears, not to an elm.

You should hammer your iron when it is glowing hot.

You should not live one way in private, another in public.

You will conquer more surely by prudence than by passion.