Juvenal Quotes

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

Rare is the union of beauty and purity.

Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt

A lucky man is rarer than a white crow.

The arrows are from her dowry.

The brief span of our poor unhappy life to its final hour Is hastening on; and while we drink and call for gay wreaths, Perfumes, and young girls, old age creeps upon us, unperceived.

The abject pleasure of an abject mind And hence so dear to poor weak woman kind. [Lat., Vindicta Nemo magis gaudet, quam femina.]

Pray for a healthy mind in a healthy body.

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

Quis costodiet ipsos custodies? (Who will watch the watchers?)

Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.

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

Luck often raises vulgarity to a high position, to create mirth for the beholders.

Dare to do something worth of exile and prison if you mean to be anybody. Virtue is praised and left to freeze. [Lat., Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris et carcere dignum Si vis esse aliquis. Probitas laudatur et alget.]

Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another.

Now that no one buys our votes, the public has long since cast off its cares; for the people that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions, and all else, now meddles no more and longs eagerly for just two things - bread and circuses.

When talent fails, indignation writes the verse.

The people that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions, and all else, now concerns itself no more, and longs eagerly for just two things: bread and circuses!

Two things only the people actually desire: bread and circuses.

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

But who guards the guardians?

To lay down one's life for the truth.

Refrain from doing ill; for one all powerful reason, lest our children should copy our misdeeds; we are all too prone to imitate whatever is base and depraved.

Many commit the same crime with a very different result. One bears a cross for his crime; another a crown.

Today there's more fellowship among snakes than among mankind. Wild beasts spare those with similar markings.

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

Yes, know thyself: in great concerns or small, be this thy care, for this, my friend, is all.

No god is absent where prudence dwells.

But grant the wrath of Heaven be great, 'tis slow. [Lat., Ut sit magna tamen certe lenta ira deorum est.]

Who watches the watchmen?

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

No wicked man knows happiness, and least of all the seducer of others.

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

Remote though your farm may be, It's something to be the lord of one green lizard-and free.

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

Nothing is so intolerable as a woman with a long purse.

Rare indulgence produces greater pleasure.

There is nothing worse than words of kindness that lie.

She knows no difference 'twixt head and privities who devours immense oysters at midnight.

A third heir seldom enjoys what has been dishonestly acquired.

Be gentle with the young.

A sound mind in a sound body is a thing to be prayed for.

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

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

Revenge is sweeter than life itself. So think fools.

No one every suddenly became depraved.

Nature and wisdom always say the same.

The thirst after fame is greater than that after virtue; for who embraces virtue if you take away its rewards?

No one ever became extremely wicked suddenly.

Of the woes Of unhappy poverty, none is more difficult to bear Than that it heaps men with ridicule.