List of Abbreviations Used in This Dictionary.
| Amer. | American. | Luc. | Lucan. |
| Apul. | Apuleius. | Lucr., Lucret. | Lucretius. |
| Arist. | Aristotle. | M. | Motto. |
| Aul. Cell. | Aulus Gellius. | Macrob. | Macrobius. |
| Bret. | Breton. | Mart. | Martial. |
| Cæs. | Cæsar. | Mol. | Molière. |
| Catull. | Catullus. | Per. | Persius. |
| Cic. | Cicero. | Petron. | Petronius. |
| Claud. | Claudius, Claudian. | Phæd., Phædr. | Phædrus. |
| Corn. | Corneille. | Plaut. | Plautus. |
| Curt. | Curtius. | Port. | Portuguese. |
| Dan. | Danish. | Pr. | Proverb. |
| Dut. | Dutch. | Pub. Syr. | Publius Syrus. |
| Ecclus. | Ecclesiasticus. | Quinct. | Quinclilian. |
| Eurip. | Euripides. | Russ. | Russian. |
| Fr. | French. | Sall. | Sallust. |
| Fris. | Frisian. | Sc. | Scotch. |
| Gael. | Gaelic. | Schill. | Schiller. |
| Ger. | German. | Sen. | Seneca. |
| Gr. | Greek. | Sh. | Shakespeare. |
| Heb. | Hebrew. | Soph. | Sophocles. |
| Hom. | Homer. | Sp. | Spanish. |
| Hor. | Horace. | Stat. | Statius. |
| It. | Italian. | St. Aug. | St. Augustine. |
| Jul. | Julius. | Sueton. | Suetonius. |
| Just. | Justinian. | Swed. | Swedish. |
| Juv. | Juvenal. | Tac. | Tacitus. |
| L. | Law. | Ter. | Terence. |
| Laber. | Labertius. | Tert. | Tertullian. |
| La Font. | La Fontaine. | Tibull. | Tibullus. |
| La Roche. | La Rochefoucauld. | Turk. | Turkish. |
| Lat. | Latin. | Virg. | Virgil. |
| Liv. | Livy. |
A.
A' are guid lasses, but where do a' the ill wives come frae? Sc. Pr.
A' are no freens that speak us fair. Sc. Pr.
A aucun les biens viennent en dormant—Good things come to some while asleep. Fr. Pr.
Ab abusu ad usum non valet consequentia—The abuse of a thing is no argument against its use. L. Max.
Ab actu ad posse valet illatio—From what has 5 happened we may infer what may happen.
A bad beginning has a bad, or makes a worse, ending. Pr.
A bad dog never sees the wolf. Pr.
A bad thing is dear at any price. Pr.
Ab alio expectes, alteri quod feceris—As you do to others, you may expect another to do to you. Laber.
A barren sow was never good to pigs. Pr. 10
A bas—Down! down with! Fr.
A beast that wants discourse of reason. Ham., i. 2.
A beau is everything of a woman but the sex, and nothing of a man beside it. Fielding.
A beau jeu beau retour—One good turn deserves another. Fr. Pr.
A beautiful form is better than a beautiful 15 face, and a beautiful behaviour than a beautiful form. Emerson.
A beautiful object doth so much attract the sight of all men, that it is in no man's power not to be pleased with it. Clarendon.
A beautiful woman is the "hell" of the soul, the "purgatory" of the purse, and the "paradise" of the eyes. Fontenelle.
A beggarly account of empty boxes. Rom. and Jul., v. 1.
A beggar's purse is always empty. Pr.
A belief in the Bible, the fruit of deep meditation, 20 has served me as the guide of my moral and literary life. I have found it a capital safely invested, and richly productive of interest. Goethe.
Abends wird der Faule fleissig—Towards evening the lazy man begins to be busy. Ger. Pr.
A beneficent person is like a fountain watering the earth and spreading fertility. Epicurus.
Aberrare a scopo—To miss the mark.
Abeunt studia in mores—Pursuits assiduously prosecuted become habits.
Ab extra—From without. 25
Abgründe liegen im Gemüthe, die tiefer als die Hölle sind—There are abysses in the mind that are deeper than hell. Platen.
Ab honesto virum bonum nihil deterret—Nothing deters a good man from what honour requires of him. Sen.
A big head and little wit. Pr.
Ab igne ignem—Fire from fire.
Abiit, excessit, evasit, erupit—He has left, gone 30 off, escaped, broken away. Cic. of Catiline's flight.
Ability to discern that what is true is true, and that what is false is false, is the characteristic of intelligence. Swedenborg.
Ab incunabilis—From the cradle.
Ab initio—From the beginning.
Ab inopia ad virtutem obsepta est via—The way from poverty to virtue is an obstructed one. Pr.
Ab intra—From within. 35
Ab irato—In a fit of passion.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Pr.
A bis et à blanc—By fits and starts. Fr.
A bitter and perplex'd "What shall I do?" is worse to man than worst necessity. Schiller.
A black hen will lay a white egg. Pr. 40
A blind man should not judge of colours. Pr.
A blockhead can find more faults than a wise man can mend. Gael. Pr.
A blue-stocking despises her duties as a woman, and always begins by making herself a man. Rousseau.
Abnormis sapiens—Wise without learning. Hor.
A bon chat bon rat—A good rat to match a good 45 cat. Tit for tat. Pr.
A bon chien il ne vient jamais un bon os—A good bone never falls to a good dog. Fr. Pr.
A bon droit—Justly; according to reason. Fr.
A bon marché—Cheap. Fr.
A book may be as great a thing as a battle. Disraeli.
A book should be luminous, but not voluminous. 50 Bovee.
Ab origine—From the beginning.
About Jesus we must believe no one but himself. Amiel.
Above all Greek, above all Roman fame. Pope.
Above all things reverence thyself. Pythagoras.
Above the cloud with its shadow is the star with its light. Victor Hugo.
Ab ovo—From the beginning (lit. from the egg).
Ab ovo usque ad mala—From the beginning to 5 the end (lit. from the egg to the apples).
A bras ouverts—With open arms. Fr.
A brave man is clear in his discourse, and keeps close to truth. Arist.
A brave spirit struggling with adversity is a spectacle for the gods. Sen.
A breath can make them, as a breath has made. Goldsmith.
Abrégé—Abridgment. Fr. 10
Absence lessens weak, and intensifies violent, passions, as wind extinguishes a taper and lights up a fire. La Roche.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Bayly.
Absence of occupation is not rest; / A mind quite vacant is a mind distress'd. Cowper.
Absens hæres non erit—The absent one will not be the heir. Pr.
Absent in body, but present in spirit. St. 15 Paul.
Absit invidia—Envy apart.
Absit omen—May the omen augur no evil.
Absolute fiends are as rare as angels, perhaps rarer. J. S. Mill.
Absolute freedom is inhuman. Rahel.
Absolute individualism is an absurdity. Amiel. 20
Absolute nothing is the aggregate of all the contradictions of the world. Jonathan Edwards.
Absque argento omnia vana—Without money all is vain.
Abstineto a fabis—Having nothing to do with elections (lit. Abstain from beans, the ballot at Athens having been by beans).
Absurdum est ut alios regat, qui seipsum regere nescit—It is absurd that he should govern others, who knows not how to govern himself. L. Max.
Abundat dulcibus vitiis—He abounds in charming 25 faults of style. Quint.
Ab uno ad omnes—From one to all. M.
Ab uno disce omnes—From a single instance you may infer the whole.
Ab urbe condita (A.U.C.)—From the building of the city, i.e., of Rome.
A bureaucracy always tends to become a pedantocracy. J. S. Mill.
A burnt child dreads the fire. Pr. 30
Abusus non tollit usum—Abuse is no argument against use. Pr.
Academical years ought by rights to give occupation to the whole mind. It is this time which, well or ill employed, affects a man's whole after-life. Goethe.
A cader va chi troppo in alto sale—He who climbs too high is near a fall. It. Pr.
A capite ad calcem—From head to heel.
A careless master makes a negligent servant. 35 Pr.
A carper will cavil at anything. Pr.
A carrion kite will never make a good hawk. Pr.
"A cat may look at a king," but can it see a king when it looks at him? Ruskin.
A causa perduta parole assai—Plenty of words when the cause is lost. It. Pr.
Accasca in un punto quel che non accasca in 40 cento anni—That may happen in a moment which may not occur again in a hundred years. It. Pr.
Accedas ad curiam—You may go to the court. A writ to remove a case to a higher court. L. Term.
Accensa domo proximi, tua quoque periclitatur—When the house of your neighbour is on fire, your own is in danger. Pr.
Accent is the soul of speech; it gives it feeling and truth. Rousseau.
Acceptissima semper / Munera sunt, auctor quæ pretiosa facit—Those presents are always the most acceptable which owe their value to the giver. Ovid.
Accident ever varies; substance can never 45 suffer change or decay. Wm. Blake.
Accidents rule men, not men accidents. Herodotus.
Accipe nunc, victus tenuis quid quantaque secum afferat. In primis valeas bene—Now learn what and how great benefits a moderate diet brings with it. Before all, you will enjoy good health. Hor.
Accipere quam facere præstat injuriam—It is better to receive than to do an injury. Cic.
Acclinis falsis animus meliora recusat—The mind attracted by what is false has no relish for better things. Hor.
Accusare nemo se debet nisi coram Deo—No 50 man is bound to accuse himself unless it be before God. L. Max.
Accuse not Nature; she hath done her part; / Do thou thine. Milton.
Acer et vehemens bonus orator—A good orator is pointed and impassioned. Cic.
Acerrima proximorum odia—The hatred of those most closely connected with us is the bitterest. Tac.
Acerrimus ex omnibus nostris sensibus est sensus videndi—The keenest of all our senses is the sense of sight. Cic.
A certain degree of soul is indispensable to 55 save us the expense of salt. Ben Jonson.
A certain tendency to insanity has always attended the opening of the religious sense in men, as if they had been "blasted with excess of light." Emerson.
A chacun selon sa capacité, à chaque capacité selon ses œuvres—Every one according to his talent, and every talent according to its works. Fr. Pr.
A chacun son fardeau pèse—Every one thinks his own burden heavy. Fr. Pr.
A change came o'er the spirit of my dream. Byron.
A chaque fou plaît sa marotte—Every fool is 60 pleased with his own hobby. Fr. Pr.
A character is a completely-fashioned will. Novalis.
Ach! aus dem Glück entwickelt sich Schmerz—Alas! that from happiness there so often springs pain. Goethe.
A cheerful life is what the Muses love; / A soaring spirit is their prime delight. Wordsworth.
Acheruntis pabulum—Food for Acheron. Plaut.
Ach! es geschehen keine Wunder mehr—Alas! there are no more any miracles. Schiller.
A child is a Cupid become visible. Novalis.
A child may have too much of its mother's blessing. Pr.
A chill air surrounds those who are down in 5 the world. George Eliot.
A chip of the old block.
A Christian is God Almighty's gentleman. Hare.
Ach! unsre Thaten selbst, so gut als unsre Leiden / Sie hemmen unsers Lebens Gang—We are hampered, alas! in our course of life quite as much by what we do as by what we suffer. Goethe.
Ach! vielleicht indem wir hoffen / Hat uns Unheil getroffen—Ah! perhaps while we are hoping, mischief has already overtaken us. Schiller.
Ach wie glücklich sind die Todten!—Ah! how 10 happy the dead are! Schiller.
Ach! zu des Geistes Flügeln, wird so leicht kein körperlicher Flügel sich gesellen—Alas! no fleshly pinion will so easily keep pace with the wings of the spirit. Goethe.
A circulating library in a town is an ever-green tree of diabolical knowledge. Sheridan.
A circumnavigator of the globe is less influenced by all the nations he has seen than by his nurse. Jean Paul.
A clear conscience is a sure card. Pr.
A cock aye craws crousest (boldest) on his ain 15 midden-head. Sc. Pr.
A cœur ouvert—With open heart; with candour. Fr.
A cœur vaillant rien d'impossible—To a valiant heart nothing is impossible. Fr. Pr.
A cold hand, a warm heart. Pr.
A combination, and a form, indeed / Where every god did seem to set his seal / To give the world assurance of a man. Ham., iii. 4.
A' complain o' want o' siller; nane o' want o' 20 sense. Sc. Pr.
A compte—In part payment (lit. on account). Fr.
A confesseurs, médecins, avocats, la vérité ne cèle de ton cas—Do not conceal the truth from confessors, doctors, and lawyers. Fr. Pr.
A conscience without God is a tribunal without a judge. Lamartine.
A consistent man believes in destiny, a capricious man in chance. Disraeli.
A constant fidelity in small things is a great 25 and heroic virtue. Bonaventura.
A constant friend is a thing hard and rare to find. Plutarch.
A contre cœur—Against the grain. Fr.
A corps perdu—With might and main. Fr.
A countenance more in sorrow than in anger. Ham., i. 2.
A courage to endure and to obey. Tennyson. 30
A couvert—Under cover. Fr.
Acqua lontana non spegne fuoco vicino—Water afar won't quench a fire at hand. It. Pr.
A crafty knave needs no broker. Pr. quoted in Hen. VI.
A craw's nae whiter for being washed. Sc. Pr.
A creation of importance can be produced only 35 when its author isolates himself; it is ever a child of solitude. Goethe.
Acribus initiis, incurioso fine—Full of ardour at the beginning, careless at the end. Tac.
A critic should be a pair of snuffers. He is often an extinguisher, and not seldom a thief. Hare.
A crowd is not company. Bacon.
A crown / Golden in show, is but a wreath of thorns. Milton.
A crown is no cure for the headache. Pr. 40
A cruce salus—Salvation from the cross. M.
A cruel story runs on wheels, and every hand oils the wheels as they run. Ouida.
A crust of bread and liberty. Pope.
Acta exteriora indicant interiora secreta—Outward acts betray the secret intention. L. Max.
Act always so that the immediate motive of 45 thy will may become a universal rule for all intelligent beings. Kant.
Acti labores jucundi—The remembrance of past labours is pleasant.
Action can be understood and again represented by the spirit alone. Goethe.
Action is but coarsened thought. Amiel.
Action is the right outlet of emotion. Ward Beecher.
Actions speak louder than words. Pr. 50
Actis ævum implet, non segnibus annis—His lifetime is full of deeds, not of indolent years. Ovid.
Activity is the presence, and character the record, of function. Greenough.
Actum est de republicâ—It is all over with the republic.
Actum ne agas—What has been done don't do over again. Cic.
Actus Dei nemini facit injuriam—The act of 55 God does wrong to no man. L. Max.
Actus legis nulli facit injuriam—The act of the law does wrong to no man. L. Max.
Actus me invito factus, non est meus actus—An act I do against my will is not my act. L. Max.
Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea—The act does not make a man guilty, unless the mind be guilty. L. Max.
Act well your part; there all the honour lies. Pope.
A cuspide corona—From the spear a crown, i.e., 60 honour for military exploits. M.
A custom / More honoured in the breach than the observance. Ham., i. 4.
Adam muss eine Eve haben, die er zeiht was er gethan—Adam must have an Eve, to blame for what he has done. Ger. Pr.
Ad amussim—Made exactly by rule.
A danger foreseen is half avoided. Pr.
Adaptiveness is the peculiarity of human 65 nature. Emerson.
Ad aperturam—Wherever a book may be opened.
Ad arbitrium—At pleasure.
Ad astra per ardua—To the stars by steep paths. M.
A Daniel come to judgment. Mer. of Ven., iv. 1.
Ad avizandum—Into consideration. Scots Law. 70
A day may sink or save a realm. Tennyson.
A day of grace (Gunst) is as a day in harvest; one must be diligent as soon as it is ripe. Goethe.
A day wasted on others is not wasted on one's self. Dickens.
Ad calamitatem quilibet rumor valet—When a disaster happens, every report confirming it obtains ready credence.
Ad captandum vulgus—To catch the rabble.
Addere legi justitiam decus—It is to one's honour 5 to combine justice with law. M.
A death-bed repentance seldom reaches to restitution. Junius.
A deep meaning resides in old customs. Schiller.
A democracy is a state in which the government rests directly with the majority of the citizens. Ruskin.
A Deo et rege—From God and the king. M.
Adeo in teneris consuescere multum est—So 10 much depends on habit in the tender years of youth. Virg.
Ad eundem—To the same degree. Said of a graduate passing from one university to another.
Ad extremum—At last.
Ad finem—To the end.
Ad Græcas kalendas—At the Greek calends, i.e., never.
Ad gustum—To one's taste. 15
Adhibenda est in jocando moderatio—Moderation should be used in joking. Cic.
Ad hoc—For this purpose.
Ad hominem—Personal (lit. to the man).
Adhuc sub judice lis est—The affair is not yet decided.
Adhuc tua messis in herba est—Your crop is 20 still in grass. Ovid.
A die—From that day.
Adieu la voiture, adieu la boutique—Adieu to the carriage, adieu to the shop, i.e., to the business. Fr. Pr.
Adieu, paniers! vendanges sont faites—Farewell, baskets! vintage is over. Fr.
Ad infinitum—To infinity.
Ad interim—Meanwhile. 25
Ad internecionem—To extermination.
A Dio spiacente ed a' nemici sui—Hateful to God and the enemies of God. Dante.
A Dios rogando y con el mazo dando—Praying to God and smiting with the hammer. Sp. Pr.
A discrétion—Without any restriction (lit. at discretion). Fr.
Ad libitum—At pleasure. 30
Ad majorem Dei gloriam—To the greater glory of God (M. of the Jesuits).
Ad mala quisque animum referat sua—Let each recall his own woes. Ovid.
Admiration praises; love is dumb. Börne.
Ad modum—In the manner.
Ad nauseam—To disgust; sickening. 35
Ad ogni santo la sua torcia—To every saint his own torch, i.e., his place of honour. It. Pr.
Ad ogni nocello suo nido è bello—Every bird thinks its own nest beautiful. It. Pr.
Ad ognuno par più grave la croce sua—Every one thinks his own cross the hardest to bear. It. Pr.
A dog's life—hunger and ease.
A dog winna yowl if you fell him wi' a bane. 40 Sc. Pr.
Adolescentem verecundum esse decet—A young man ought to be modest. Plaut.
Ad omnem libidinem projectus homo—A man addicted to every lust.
Adó sacan y non pon, presto llegan al hondon—By ever taking out and never putting in, one soon reaches the bottom. Sp. Pr.
Ad patres—Dead; to death (lit. to the fathers).
A downright contradiction is equally mysterious 45 to wise men as to fools. Goethe.
Ad perditam securim manubrium adjicere—To throw the helve after the hatchet, i.e., to give up in despair.
Ad perniciem solet agi sinceritas—Honesty is often goaded to ruin. Phædr.
Ad pœnitendum properat, cito qui judicat—He who decides in haste repents in haste. Pub. Syr.
Ad populum phaleras, ego te intus et in cute novi—To the vulgar herd with your trappings; for me, I know you both inside and out. Pers.
Ad quæstionem legis respondent judices, ad 50 quæstionem facti respondent juratores—It is the judge's business to answer to the question of law, the jury's to answer to the question of fact. L.
Ad quod damnum—To what damage. L.
Ad referendum—For further consideration.
Ad rem—To the point (lit. to the thing).
A droit—To the right. Fr.
A drop of honey catches more flies than a 55 hogshead of vinegar. Pr.
A drop of water has all the properties of water, but it cannot exhibit a storm. Emerson.
A drowning man will catch at a straw. Pr.
Adscriptus glebæ—Attached to the soil.
Adsit regula, peccatis quæ pœnas irroget æquas—Have a rule apportioning to each offence its appropriate penalty. Hor.
Adstrictus necessitate—Bound by necessity. Cic. 60
Ad summum—To the highest point.
Ad tristem partem strenua est suspicio—One is quick to suspect where one has suffered harm before. Pub. Syr.
Ad unguem—To a nicety (lit. to the nail).
Ad unum omnes—All to a (lit. one) man.
A dur âne dur aiguillon—A hard goad for a stubborn 65 ass. Fr. Pr.
Ad utrumque paratus—Prepared for either case.
Ad valorem—According to the value.
Advantage is a better soldier than rashness. Hen. V., iii. 6.
Adversa virtute repello—I repel adversity by valour. M.
Adversity is a great schoolmistress, as many 70 a poor fellow knows that has whimpered over his lesson before her awful chair. Thackeray.
Adversity's sweet milk—philosophy. Rom. and Jul., iii. 3.
Adversus solem ne loquitor—Speak not against the sun, i.e., don't argue against what is sun-clear. Pr.
Ad vitam aut culpam—Till some misconduct be proved (lit. for life or fault).
Ad vivum—To the life.
A dwarf sees farther than the giant when he 75 has the giant's shoulders to mount on. Coleridge.
Ægis fortissima virtus—Virtue is the strongest shield. M.
Ægrescit medendo—The remedy is worse than the disease (lit. the disorder increases with the remedy).
Ægri somnia vana—The delusive dreams of a sick man. Hor.
Ægroto, dum anima est, spes est—While a sick man has life, there is hope. Pr.
Ae half o' the world doesna ken how the ither 5 half lives. Sc. Pr.
Ae man may tak' a horse to the water, but twenty winna gar (make) him drink. Sc. Pr.
Ae man's meat is anither man's poison. Sc. Pr.
Æmulatio æmulationem parit—Emulation begets emulation. Pr.
Æmulus atque imitator studiorum ac laborum—A rival and imitator of his studies and labours. Cic.
Aendern und bessern sind zwei—To change, and 10 to change for the better, are two different things. Ger. Pr.
Æquabiliter et diligenter—By equity and diligence. M.
Æquâ lege necessitas / Sortitur insignes et imos—Necessity apportions impartially to high and low alike. Hor.
Æquam memento rebus in arduis / Servare mentem, non secus in bonis / Ab insolenti temperatam / Lætitiâ—Be sure to preserve an unruffled mind in adversity, as well as one restrained from immoderate joy in prosperity. Hor.
Æquam servare mentem—To preserve an even temper. M.
Æquanimiter—With equanimity. M. 15
Æqua tellus / Pauperi recluditur / Regumque pueris—The impartial earth opens alike for the child of the pauper and of the king. Hor.
Æquo animo—With an even or equable mind. M.
Æquum est / Peccatis veniam poscentem reddere rursus—It is fair that he who begs to be forgiven should in turn forgive. Hor.
Ære perennius—More enduring than brass. Hor.
Ærugo animi, rubigo ingenii—Rust, viz., idleness, 20 of mind is the blight of genius, i.e., natural capability of every kind.
Æs debitorem leve, gravius inimicum facit—A slight debt makes a man your debtor; a heavier one, your enemy. Laber.
Ætatem non tegunt tempora—Our temples do not conceal our age.
Æternum inter se discordant—They are eternally at variance with each other. Ter.
Ævo rarissima nostro simplicitas—Simplicity a very rare thing now-a-days. Ovid.
A fact is a great thing: a sentence printed, 25 if not by God, then at least by the Devil. Carlyle.
A fact in our lives is valuable, not so far as it is true, but as it is significant. Goethe.
A facto ad jus non datur consequentia—Inference from the fact to the law is not legitimate. L. Max.
"A fair day's wages for a fair day's work," is as just a demand as governed men ever made of governing; yet in what corner of this planet was that ever realised? Carlyle.
A fair face may hide a foul heart. Pr.
A faithful friend is a true image of the Deity. 30 Napoleon.
A fault confessed is half redressed. Pr.
A favour does not consist in the service done, but in the spirit of the man who confers it. Sen.
A fellow-feeling makes one wondrous kind. Garrick.
A fellow who speculates is like an animal on a barren heath, driven round and round by an evil spirit, while there extends on all sides of him a beautiful green meadow-pasture. Goethe.
"A few strong instincts and a few plain rules" 35 suffice us. Emerson, from Wordsworth.
Affaire d'amour—A love affair. Fr.
Affaire d'honneur—An affair of honour; a duel. Fr.
Affaire du cœur—An affair of the heart. Fr.
Affairs that depend on many rarely succeed. Guicciardini.
Affection lights a brighter flame / Than ever 40 blazed by art. Cowper.
Affirmatim—In the affirmative.
Afflavit Deus et dissipantur—God sent forth his breath, and they are scattered. Inscription on medal struck to commemorate the destruction of the Spanish Armada.
Afflictions are blessings in disguise. Pr.
A fiery soul, which, working out its way / Fretted the pigmy body to decay. Dryden.
A fin—To the end. 45
A fine quotation is a diamond on the finger of a man of wit, and a pebble in the hand of a fool. J. Roux.
A fixed idea ends in madness or heroism. Victor Hugo.
A flute lay side by side with Frederick the Great's baton of command. Jean Paul.
A fly is as untamable as a hyena. Emerson.
A fog cannot be dispelled with a fan. Japan. Pr. 50
A fond—Thoroughly (lit. to the bottom).
A fonte puro pura defluit aqua—From a pure spring pure water flows. Pr.
A fortiori—With stronger reason.
A fool always accuses other people; a partially wise man, himself; a wholly wise man, neither himself nor others. Herder.
A fool always finds a greater fool to admire 55 him. Boileau.
A fool and his money are soon parted. Pr.
A fool flatters himself, a wise man flatters the fool. Bulwer.
A fool is often as dangerous to deal with as a knave, and always more incorrigible. Colton.
A fool is wise in his own conceit. Pr.
A fool knows more in his own house than a 60 wise man in another's. Pr.
A fool may give a wise man counsel. Pr.
A fool may make money, but it takes a wise man to spend it. Pr.
A fool may sometimes have talent, but he never has judgment. La Roche.
A fool may speer (ask) mair questions than a wise man can answer. Sc. Pr.
A fool resents good counsel, but a wise man 65 lays it to heart. Confucius.
A fool's bolt is soon shot. Hen. V., iii. 7.
A fool's bolt may sometimes hit the mark. Pr.
A fool when he is silent is counted wise. Pr.
A fool who has a flash of wit creates astonishment and scandal, like a hack-horse setting out to gallop. Chamfort.
A fop is the mercer's friend, the tailor's fool, and his own foe. Lavater.
A force de mal aller tout ira bien—By dint of going wrong all will go right. Fr. Pr.
A force de peindre le diable sur les murs, il finit par apparaître en personne—If you keep painting the devil on the walls, he will by and by appear to you in person. Fr. Pr.
A friend in court makes the process short. Pr. 5
A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Emerson.
A friend is never known till needed. Pr.
A friend loveth at all times. Bible.
A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of Nature. Emerson.
A friend's eye is a good looking-glass. Gael. Pr. 10
A friendship will be young at the end of a century, a passion old at the end of three months. Nigu.
A friend to everybody is a friend to nobody. Pr.
A fronte præcipitium, a tergo lupus—A precipice before, a wolf behind. Pr.
After dinner rest awhile; after supper walk a mile. Pr.
After life's fitful fever he sleeps well. Macb., 15 iii. 2.
After meat mustard, i.e., too late.
After the spirit of discernment, the next rarest things in the world are diamonds and pearls. La Bruyère.
After-wit is everybody's wit. Pr.
A full cup is hard to carry. Pr.
A ganging fit (foot) is aye getting. Sc. Pr. 20
A gauche—To the left. Fr.
Age does not make us childish, as people say; it only finds us still true children. Goethe.
Age is a matter of feeling, not of years. G. W. Curtis.
Age without cheerfulness is a Lapland winter without a sun. Colton.
A genius is one who is endowed with an excess 25 of nervous energy and sensibility. Schopenhauer.
Agent de change—A stockbroker. Fr.
A gentleman makes no noise; a lady is serene. Emerson.
A gentleman's first characteristic is fineness of nature. Ruskin.
A gentleman that will speak more in a minute than he will stand to in a month. Rom. and Jul., ii. 4.
Age quod agis—Attend to (lit. do) what you are 30 doing.
Agere considerate pluris est quam cogitare prudenter—It is of more consequence to act considerately than to think sagely. Cic.
Agiotage—Stockbroking. Fr.
A giving hand, though foul, shall have fair praise. Love's L. Lost, iv. 1.
Agnosco veteris vestigia flammæ—I own I feel traces of an old passion. Virg.
A God all mercy is a God unjust. Young. 35
A God speaks softly in our breast; softly, yet distinctly, shows us what to hold by and what to shun. Goethe.
A gold key opens every door. Pr.
A good bargain is a pick-purse. Pr.
A good beginning makes a good ending. Pr.
A good book is the precious life-blood of a 40 master-spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life. Milton.
A good friend is my nearest relation. Pr.
A good horse should be seldom spurred. Pr.
A good inclination is only the first rude draught of virtue, but the finishing strokes are from the will. South.
A good king is a public servant. Ben Jonson.
A good laugh is sunshine in a house. Thackeray. 45
A good law is one that holds, whether you recognise it or not; a bad law is one that cannot, however much you ordain it. Ruskin.
A good man in his dark striving is, I should say, conscious of the right way. Goethe.
A good man shall be satisfied from himself. Bible.
A good marksman may miss. Pr.
A good name is sooner lost than won. Pr. 50
A good presence is a letter of recommendation. Pr.
A good reader is nearly as rare as a good writer. Willmott.
A good rider on a good horse is as much above himself and others as the world can make him. Lord Herbert of Cherbury.
A good road and a wise traveller are two different things. Pr.
A good solid bit of work lasts. George Eliot. 55
A good surgeon must have an eagle's eye, a lion's heart, and a lady's hand. Pr.
A good thought is a great boon. Bovee.
A good wife and health are a man's best wealth. Pr.
A gorge déployée—With full throat. Fr.
A government for protecting business and 60 bread only is but a carcase, and soon falls by its own corruption to decay. A. B. Alcott.
A government may not waver; once it has chosen its course, it must, without looking to right or left, thenceforth go forward. Bismarck.
A grands frais—At great expense. Fr.
A grave and a majestic exterior is the palace of the soul. Chinese Pr.
A great anguish may do the work of years, and we may come out from that baptism of fire with a soul full of new awe and new pity. George Eliot.
A great deal may and must be done which we 65 dare not acknowledge in words. Goethe.
A great genius takes shape by contact with another great genius, but less by assimilation than by friction. Heine.
A great licentiousness treads on the heels of a reformation. Emerson.
A great man is he who can call together the most select company when it pleases him. Landor.
A great man is one who affects the mind of his generation. Disraeli.
A great man living for high ends is the 70 divinest thing that can be seen on earth. G. S. Hillard.
A great man quotes bravely, and will not draw on his invention when his memory serves him with a word as good. Emerson.
A great master always appropriates what is good in his predecessors, and it is this which makes him great. Goethe.
A great observer, and he looks / Quite through the deeds of men. Jul. Cæs., i. 2.
A great reputation is a great noise; the more there is made, the farther off it is heard. Napoleon.
A great revolution is never the fault of the 5 people, but of the government. Goethe.
A great scholar is seldom a great philosopher. Goethe.
A great spirit errs as well as a little one, the former because it knows no bounds, the latter because it confounds its own horizon with that of the universe. Goethe.
A great thing can only be done by a great man, and he does it without effort. Ruskin.
A great thing is a great book, but greater than all is the talk of a great man. Disraeli.
A great writer does not reveal himself here 10 and there, but everywhere. Lowell.
Agree, for the law is costly. Pr.
A green winter makes a fat churchyard. Pr.
A grey eye is a sly eye; a brown one indicates a roguish humour; a blue eye expresses fidelity; while the sparkling of a dark eye is, like the ways of Providence, always a riddle. Bodenstedt.
A growing youth has a wolf in his belly. Pr.
Agues come on horseback and go away on 15 foot. Pr.
A guilty conscience needs no accuser. Pr.
A hair of the dog that bit him. Pr.
A haute voix—Loudly; audibly. Fr.
A heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute. Gibbon.
A hedge between, keeps friendship green. Pr. 20
Ah! il n'y a plus d'enfants—Ah! there are no children now-a-days! Mol.
Ah me! for aught that ever I could read... / The course of true love never did run smooth. Mid. N.'s Dream, i. 1.
Ah me! how sweet this world is to the dying! Schiller.
A hook's well lost to catch a salmon. Pr.
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse. 25 Rich. III., v. 4.
Ah! pour être dévot, je n'en suis pas moins homme—Though I am a religious man, I am not therefore the less a man. Mol.
Ah! quam dulce est meminisse—Ah! how sweet it is to remember! M.
Ah! that deceit should steal such gentle shapes / And with a virtuous visor hide deep vice. Rich. III., ii. 2.
A hundred years cannot repair a moment's loss of honour. Pr.
A hungry belly has no ears. Pr. 30
Ah! vitam perdidi operose nihil agendo—I have lost my life, alas! in laboriously doing nothing. Grotius.
Aide-toi, et le ciel t'aidera—Help yourself and Heaven will help you. Fr.
[Greek: Ai symphorai poiousi makrologous]—Misfortunes make men talk loquaciously. Appian.
[Greek: Aidôs olôlen]—Modesty has died out. Theognis.
Ainsi que son esprit, tout peuple a son langage—Every 35 nation has its own language as well as its own temperament. Voltaire.
Air de fête—Looking festive. Fr.
Air distingué—Distinguished looking. Fr.
Airs of importance are the credentials of impotence. Lavater.
Aisé à dire est difficile à faire—Easy to say is hard to do. Fr. Pr.
A jest loses its point when he who makes it 40 is the first to laugh. Schiller.
A jest's prosperity lies in the ear / Of him that hears it, never in the tongue / Of him that makes it. Love's L. Lost, v. 2.
A Jove principium—Beginning with Jove.
A judge who cannot punish, associates himself in the end with the criminal. Goethe.
A judicious (verständiger) man is of much value for himself, of little for the whole. Goethe.
A king of shreds and patches. Ham., iii. 4. 45
A king's son is no nobler than his company. Gael. Pr.
A knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear. Ham., iv. 2.
A l'abandon—At random; little cared for. Fr.
A la belle étoile—In the open air. Fr.
A la bonne heure—Well-timed; very well. Fr. 50
A l'abri—Under shelter. Fr.
A la chandelle la chèvre semble demoiselle—By candlelight a goat looks like a young lady. Fr. Pr.
A la dérobée—By stealth. Fr.
A la fin saura-t-on qui a mangé le lard—We shall know in the end who ate the bacon. Fr. Pr.
A la française—In the French fashion. Fr. 55
A la lettre—Literally. Fr.
A la mode—According to the fashion. Fr.
A l'amour satisfait tout son charme est ôté—When love is satisfied all the charm of it is gone. Corneille.
A la portée de tout le monde—Within reach of every one. Fr.
A la presse vont les fous—Fools go in crowds. 60 Fr. Pr.
Alas! the devil's sooner raised than laid. Sheridan.
A last judgment is necessary, because fools flourish. Wm. Blake.
A last judgment is not for making bad men better, but for hindering them from oppressing the good. Wm. Blake.
A latere—From the side of (sc. the Pope).
A lazy man is necessarily a bad man; an 65 idle, is necessarily a demoralised population. Draper.
Albæ gallinæ filius—The son of a white hen.
Album calculum addere—To give a white stone, i.e., to vote for, by putting a white stone into an urn, a black one indicating rejection.
Al corral con ello—Out of the window with it. Sp.
Alea belli—The hazard of war.
Alea jacta est—The die is cast. 70
Alea judiciorum—The hazard or uncertainty of law.
A leaden sword in an ivory scabbard. Pr.
A learned man is a tank; a wise man is a spring. W. R. Alger.
Al enemigo, si vuelve la espalda, la puente de plata—Make a bridge of silver for the flying enemy. Sp. Pr.
Alere flammam—To feed the flame.
Ales volat propriis—A bird flies to its own.
Al fin se canta la Gloria—Not till the end is the 5 Gloria chanted. Sp. Pr.
Al fresco—In the open air. It.
Aliam excute quercum—Go, shake some other oak (of its fruit). Pr.
Alia res sceptrum, alia plectrum—Ruling men is one thing, fiddling to them another. Pr.
A liar is always lavish of oaths. Corneille.
A liar should have a good memory. Pr. 10
Alias—Otherwise.
Alia tentanda via est—We must try another way.
Alibi—Elsewhere.
A lie is like a snowball; the farther you roll it, the bigger it becomes. Luther.
A lie has no legs, but scandal has wings. 15 Pr.
A lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies. Tennyson.
Aliena negotia centum / Per caput, et circa saliunt latus—A hundred affairs of other people leap through my head and at my side. Hor.
Aliena negotia curo / Excussus propriis—I attend to other people's affairs, baffled with my own. Hor.
Aliena nobis, nostra plus aliis placent—That which belongs to others pleases us most; that which belongs to us pleases others more. Pub. Syr.
Aliena opprobria sæpe / Absterrent vitiis—We 20 are often deterred from crime by the disgrace of others. Hor.
Aliena optimum frui insania—It is best to profit by the madness of other people. Pr.
Aliena vitia in oculis habemus; a tergo nostra sunt—We keep the faults of others before our eyes; our own behind our backs. Sen.
Alieni appetens, sui profusus—Covetous of other men's property, prodigal of his own. Sall.
Alieni temporis flores—Flowers of other days.
Alieno in loco haud stabile regnum est—Sovereignty 25 over a foreign land is insecure. Sen.
Alieno more vivendum est mihi—I must live according to another's humour. Ter.
Alienos agros irrigas tuis sitientibus—You water the fields of others, while your own are parched. Pr.
A lie should be trampled on and extinguished wherever found. Carlyle.
A lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with outright / But a lie which is part a truth is a harder matter to fight. Tennyson.
A life that is worth writing at all is worth 30 writing minutely. Longfellow.
A light heart lives long. Pr.
Alii sementem faciunt, alii metentem—Some do the sowing, others the reaping.
Aliis lætus, sapiens sibi—Cheerful for others, wise for himself. Pr.
A l'impossible nul n'est tenu—No one can be held bound to do what is impossible. Fr. Pr.
A l'improviste—Unawares. Fr. 35
Aliorum medicus, ipse ulceribus scates—A physician to others, while you yourself are full of ulcers.
Alio sub sole—Under another sky (lit. sun).
Aliquando bonus dormitat Homerus—Sometimes even the good Homer nods. Hor.
Aliquis non debet esse judex in propria causa—No one may sit as judge in his own case. L.
Alis volat propriis—He flies with his own wings. 40 M.
A little body often harbours a great soul. Pr.
A little fire is quickly trodden out; / Which being suffered, rivers cannot quench. 3 Hen. VI., iv. 8.
A little is better than none. Pr.
A little learning is a dangerous thing / Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. Pope.
A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 45 Pr.
A little more than kin, and less than kind. Ham., i. 2.
A little neglect may breed great mischief. Franklin.
A little philosophy inclineth a man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion. Bacon.
A little spark maks muckle wark. Sc. Pr.
Alitur vitium vivitque tegendo—Evil is nourished 50 and grows by concealment. Virg.
Aliud est celare, aliud tacere—To conceal is one thing, to say nothing is another. L. Max.
Aliud et idem—Another and the same.
Aliud legunt pueri, aliud viri, aliud senes—Boys read books one way, men another, old men another. Ter.
A living dog is better than a dead lion. Pr.
Alle anderen Dinge müssen; der Mensch ist 55 das Wesen, welches will—All other things must; man is the only creature who wills. Schiller.
Alle Frachten lichten, sagte der Schiffer, da warf er seine Frau über Bord—All freights lighten, said the skipper, as he threw his wife into the sea. Ger. Pr.
Allegans contraria non est audiendus—No one is to be heard whose evidence is contradictory. L. Max.
Allen gehört, was du denkest; dein eigen ist nur, was du fühlest—What you think belongs to all; only what you feel is your own. Schiller.
Aller Anfang ist heiter; die Schwelle ist der Platz der Erwartung—Every beginning is cheerful; the threshold is the place of expectation. Goethe.
Aller Anfang ist schwer, sprach der Dieb, und 60 stahl zuerst einen Amboss—Every beginning is difficult, said the thief, when he began by stealing an anvil. Ger. Pr.
Alle Schuld rächt sich auf Erden—Every offence is avenged on earth. Goethe.
Alles Gescheidte ist schon gedacht worden; man muss nur versuchen, es noch einmal zu denken—Everything wise has already been thought; one can only try and think it once more. Goethe.
Alles Vergängliche ist nur ein Gleichniss—Everything transitory is only an allegory. Goethe.
Alles wanket, wo der Glaube fehlt—All is unsteady (lit. wavers) where faith fails. Ger. Pr.
Alles wäre gut, wär kein Aber dabei—Everything would be right if it were not for the "Buts." Ger. Pr.
Alles, was ist, ist vernünftig—Everything which is, is agreeable to reason. Hegel.
Alles zu retten, muss alles gewagt werden—To save all, we must risk all. Schiller.
All advantages are attended with disadvantages. 5 Hume.
All are but parts of one stupendous whole / Whose body Nature is, and God the soul. Pope.
All argument will vanish before one touch of Nature. Colman.
All are not hunters that blow the horn. Pr.
All are not saints that go to church. Pr.
All are not soldiers that go to the wars. 10 Pr.
All are not thieves that dogs bark at. Pr.
All art is great, and good, and true, only so far as it is distinctively the work of manhood in its entire and highest sense. Ruskin.
All balloons give up their gas in the pressure of things, and collapse in a sufficiently wretched manner erelong. Carlyle.
All battle is misunderstanding. Goethe.
All beginnings are easy; it is the ulterior 15 steps that are of most difficult ascent and most rarely taken. Goethe.
All cats are grey in the dark. Pr.
All censure of a man's self is oblique praise; it is in order to show how much he can spare. Johnson.
All cruelty springs from weakness. Sen.
All death in nature is birth. Fichte.
All deep joy has something of awful in it. 20 Carlyle.
All delights are vain; but that most vain / Which, with pain purchas'd, doth inherit pain. Love's L. Lost, i. 1.
All destruction, by violent revolution or howsoever it be, is but new creation on a wider scale. Carlyle.
All disputation makes the mind deaf, and when people are deaf I am dumb. Joubert.
[Greek: All' estin, entha chê dikê blabên pherei]—Sometimes justice does harm. Sophocles.
All evil is as a nightmare; the instant you 25 begin to stir under it, the evil is gone. Carlyle.
All evils, when extreme, are the same. Corneille.
All faults are properly shortcomings. Goethe.
All faiths are to their own believers just / For none believe because they will, but must. Dryden.
All feet tread not in one shoe. Pr.
All flesh consorteth according to its kind, and 30 a man will cleave to his like. Ecclus.
All forms of government are good, so far as the wise and kind in them govern the unwise and unkind. Ruskin.
All good colour is in some degree pensive, and the purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most. Ruskin.
All good government must begin at home. H. R. Haweis.
All good has an end but the goodness of God. Gael. Pr.
All good things / Are ours, nor soul helps 35 flesh more now / Than flesh helps soul. Browning.
All good things go in threes. Ger. and Fr. Pr.
All governments are to some extent a treaty with the Devil. Jacobi.
All great art is the expression of man's delight in God's work, not in his own. Ruskin.
All great discoveries are made by men whose feelings run ahead of their thinkings. C. H. Parkhurst.
All great peoples are conservative. Carlyle. 40
All great song has been sincere song. Ruskin.
All healthy things are sweet-tempered. Emerson.
All his geese are swans. Pr.
All history is an inarticulate Bible. Carlyle.
All immortal writers speak out of their hearts. 45 Ruskin.
All imposture weakens confidence and chills benevolence. Johnson.
All inmost things are melodious, naturally utter themselves in song. Carlyle.
All is but toys. Macb., ii. 3.
All is good that God sends us. Pr.
All is influence except ourselves. Goethe. 50
All is not gold that glitters. Pr.
All is not lost that's in peril. Pr.
All live by seeming. Old Play.
All living objects do by necessity form to themselves a skin. Carlyle.
Allmächtig ist doch das Gold; auch Mohren 55 kann's bleichen—Gold is omnipotent; it can make even the Moor white. Schiller.
All mankind love a lover. Emerson.
All man's miseries go to prove his greatness. Pascal.
All martyrdoms looked mean when they were suffered. Emerson.
All measures of reformation are effective in proportion to their timeliness. Ruskin.
All men are bores except when we want them. 60 Holmes.
All men are born sincere and die deceivers. Vauvenargues.
All men are fools, and with every effort they differ only in the degree. Boileau.
All men commend patience, though few be willing to practise it. Thomas à Kempis.
All men have their price. Anon.
All men honour love, because it looks up, and 65 not down. Emerson.
All men, if they work not as in the great taskmaster's eye, will work wrong. Carlyle.
All men live by truth, and stand in need of expression. Emerson.
All men may dare what has by man been done. Young.
All men that are ruined are ruined on the side of their natural propensities. Burke.
All men think all men mortal but themselves. 70 Young.
All men would be masters of others, and no man is lord of himself. Goethe.
All men who know not where to look for truth, save in the narrow well of self, will find their own image at the bottom and mistake it for what they are seeking. Lowell.
All minds quote. Old and new make up the warp and woof of every moment. Emerson.
All mischief comes from our inability to be alone. La Bruyère.
All money is but a divisible title-deed. Ruskin. 5
All my possessions for a moment of time! Queen Elizabeth's last words.
All nature is but art unknown to thee. / All chance, direction which thou canst not see. / All discord, harmony not understood; / All partial evil, universal good. Pope.
All nobility in its beginnings was somebody's natural superiority. Emerson.
All objects are as windows through which the philosophic eye looks into infinitude. Carlyle.
All orators are dumb when beauty pleadeth. 10 Sh.
[Greek: all' ou Zeus andressi noêmata panta teleutâ]—Zeus, however, does not give effect to all the schemes of man. Hom.
[Greek: Allos egô]—Alter ego. Zeno's definition of a friend.
All our evils are imaginary, except pain of body and remorse of conscience. Rousseau.
All our most honest striving prospers only in unconscious moments. Goethe.
All passions exaggerate; and they are passions 15 only because they do exaggerate. Chamfort.
All pleasure must be bought at the price of pain. John Foster.
All power appears only in transition. Novalis.
All power, even the most despotic, rests ultimately on opinion. Hume.
All power of fancy over reason is a degree of insanity. Johnson.
All promise outruns performance. Emerson. 20
All public disorder proceeds from want of work. Courier.
All speech, even the commonest, has something of song in it. Carlyle.
All strength lies within, not without. Jean Paul.
All strong men love life. Heine.
All strong souls are related. Schiller. 25
All's well that ends well. Pr.
All talent, all intellect, is in the first place moral. Carlyle.
All that a man has he will give for right relations with his mates. Emerson.
All that glisters is not gold; / Gilded tombs do worms infold. Mer. of Ven., ii. 7.
All that is best in the great poets of all countries 30 is not what is national in them, but what is universal. Longfellow.
All that is human must retrograde, if it do not advance. Gibbon.
All that is noble is in itself of a quiet nature, and appears to sleep until it is aroused and summoned forth by contrast. Goethe.
All that lives must die, / Passing through nature to eternity. Ham., i. 2.
All that man does and brings to pass is the vesture of a thought. Sartor Resartus.
All that mankind has done, thought, gained, 35 or been, it is all lying in magic preservation in the pages of books. Carlyle.
All that tread the globe are but a handful to the tribes that slumber in its bosom. Bryant.
All the armed prophets have conquered, all the unarmed have perished. Machiavelli.
All the arts affecting culture (i.e., the fine arts) have a certain common bond, and are connected by a certain blood relationship with each other. Cic.
All the difference between the wise man and the fool is, that the wise man keeps his counsel, and the fool reveals it. Gael. Pr.
All the diseases of mind, leading to fatalest 40 ruin, are due to the concentration of man upon himself, whether his heavenly interests or his worldly interests, matters not. Ruskin.
All the faults of the man I can pardon in the player; no fault of the player can I pardon in the man. Goethe.
All the good of which humanity is capable is comprised in obedience. J. S. Mill.
All the great ages have been ages of belief. Emerson.
All the keys don't hang at one man's girdle. Pr.
All the makers of dictionaries, all the compilers 45 of opinions already printed, we may term plagiarists, but honest plagiarists, who arrogate not the merit of invention. Voltaire.
All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Macb., v. 1.
All the pursuits of men are the pursuits of women also, and in all of them a woman is only a weaker man. Plato.
All the thinking in the world does not bring us to thought; we must be right by nature, so that good thoughts may come. Goethe.
All the wit in the world is not in one head. Pr.
All the wit in the world is thrown away upon 50 the man who has none. Bruyère.
All the world's a stage / And all the men and women merely players. As You Like It, ii. 7.
All things are double, one against another. Good is set against evil, and life against death. Ecclus.
All things are for the sake of the good, and it is the cause of everything beautiful. Plato.
All things are in perpetual flux and fleeting. Pr.
All things are symbolical, and what we call 55 results are beginnings. Plato.
All things happen by necessity; in Nature there is neither good nor bad. Spinoza.
All things that are / Are with more spirit chased than enjoyed. Mer. of Ven., ii. 6.
All things that love the sun are out of doors. Wordsworth.
All this (in the daily press) does not concern one in the least; one is neither the wiser nor the better for knowing what the day brings forth. Goethe.
All true men are soldiers in the same army, 60 to do battle against the same enemy—the empire of darkness and wrong. Carlyle.
All truth is not to be told at all times. Pr.
All virtue is most rewarded, and all wickedness most punished, in itself. Bacon.
All went as merry as a marriage-bell. Byron.
All, were it only a withered leaf, works together with all. Carlyle.
All will be as God wills. Gael. Pr.
All wise men are of the same religion, and 5 keep it to themselves. Lord Shaftesbury.
All women are good, viz., for something or nothing. Pr.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Pr.
Allzugrosse Zartheit der Gefühle ist ein wahres Unglück—It is a real misfortune to have too great delicacy of feeling. C. J. Weber.
Allzustraff gespannt, zerspringt der Bogen—If the bow is overstrained, it breaks. Schiller.
Allzuviel ist nicht genug—Too much is not 10 enough. Ger. Pr.
Alma mater—A benign mother; applied to one's university, also to the "all-nourishing" earth.
Al molino, ed alla sposa / Sempre manca qualche cosa—A mill and a woman are always in want of something. It. Pr.
Almost all our sorrows spring out of our relations with other people. Schopenhauer.
Almsgiving never made any man poor. Pr.
A loan should come laughing home. Pr. 15
A l'œuvre on connaît l'artisan—By the work one knows the workman. La Font.
A loisir—At leisure. Fr.
Alomban és szerelemben nincs lehetetlenséej—In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities. J. Arany.
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life / They kept the noiseless tenor of their way. Gray.
A los bobos se les aperece la Madre de Dios—The 20 mother of God appears to fools. Sp. Pr.
A lover's eyes will gaze an eagle blind. Love's L. Lost, iv. 3.
Alte fert aquila—The eagle bears me on high. M.
Altera manu fert lapidem, altera panem ostentat—He carries a stone in one hand, and shows bread in the other. Pr.
Altera manu scabunt, altera feriunt—They tickle with one hand and smite with the other. Pr.
Alter ego—Another or second self. 25
Alter idem—Another exactly the same.
Alter ipse amicus—A friend is a second self. Pr.
Alterius non sit qui suus esse potest—Let no man be slave of another who can be his own master. M. of Paracelsus.
Alter remus aquas, alter mihi radat arenas—Let me skim the water with one oar, and with the other touch the sands, i.e., so as not to go out of my depth.
Alterum tantum—As much more. 30
Although men are accused of not knowing their weakness, yet perhaps as few know their strength. Swift.
Although the last, not least. King Lear, i. 1.
Altissima quæque flumina minimo sono labuntur—The deepest rivers flow with the least noise. Curt.
Alt ist das Wort, doch bleibet hoch und wahr der Sinn—Old is the Word, yet does the meaning abide as high and true as ever. Faust.
Altro diletto che' mparar, non provo—Learning 35 is my sole delight. Petrarch.
Always filling, never full. Cowper.
Always have two strings to your bow. Pr.
Always strive for the whole; and if thou canst not become a whole thyself, connect thyself with a whole as a ministering member. Schiller.
Always there is a black spot in our sunshine, the shadow of ourselves. Carlyle.
Always to distrust is an error, as well as always 40 to trust. Goethe.
Always win fools first; they talk much, and what they have once uttered they will stick to. Helps.
Amabilis insania—A fine frenzy. Hor.
A machine is not a man or a work of art; it is destructive of humanity and art. Wm. Blake.
A madness most discreet, / A choking gall and a preserving sweet, i.e., Love is. Rom. and Jul., i. 1.
A mad world, my masters. Middleton. 45
A main armée—By force of arms. Fr.
Ama l'amico tuo con il diffetto suo—Love your friend with all his faults. It. Pr.
A man at sixteen will prove a child at sixty. Pr.
A man belongs to his age and race, even when he acts against them. Renan.
A man, be the heavens praised, is sufficient 50 for himself; yet were ten men, united in love, capable of being and doing what ten thousand singly would fail in. Carlyle.
A man can be so changed by love as to be unrecognisable as the same person. Ter.
A man can do no more than he can. Pr.
A man can keep another's secret better than his own; a woman, her own better than another's. La Bruyère.
A man canna wive and thrive the same year. Sc. Pr.
A man can never be too much on his guard 55 when he writes to the public, and never too easy towards those with whom he converses. D'Alembert.
A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. John Baptist.
A man cannot be in the seventeenth century and the nineteenth at one and the same moment. Carlyle's experience while editing Cromwell's Letters.
A man cannot spin and reel at the same time. Pr.
A man cannot whistle and drink at the same time. Pr.
A man dishonoured is worse than dead. Cervantes. 60
A man does not represent a fraction, but a whole number; he is complete in himself. Schopenhauer.
A man hears only what he understands. Goethe.
A man he was to all the country dear, / And passing rich with forty pounds a year. Goldsmith.
A man in a farm and his thoughts away, is better out of it than in it. Gael. Pr.
A man in debt is so far a slave. Emerson. 65
A man in the right, with God on his side, is in the majority, though he be alone. Amer. Pr.
A man is a fool or his own physician at forty. Pr.
A man is a golden impossibility. Emerson.
A man is always nearest to his good when at home, and farthest from it when away. J. G. Holland.
A man is king in his own house. Gael. Pr. 5
A man is never happy till his vague striving has itself marked out its proper limitation. Goethe.
A man is not born the second time, any more than the first, without travail. Carlyle.
A man is not as God, / But then most godlike being most a man. Tennyson.
A man is not strong who takes convulsion fits, though six men cannot hold him; only he that can walk under the heaviest weight without staggering. Carlyle.
A man is only a relative and a representative 10 nature. Emerson.
A man is the façade of a temple wherein all wisdom and all good abide. Emerson.
A man is the prisoner of his power. Emerson.
A man lives by believing something; not by debating and arguing about many things. Carlyle.
A man may be proud of his house, and not ride on the rigging (ridge) of it. Sc. Pr.
A man may do what he likes with his own. Pr. 15
A man may smile, and smile, and be a villain. Ham., i. 5.
A man may spit in his nieve and do little. Sc. Pr.
A man may survive distress, but not disgrace. Gael. Pr.
A man / More sinn'd against than sinning. King Lear, iii. 2.
A man must ask his wife's leave to thrive. Pr. 20
A man must become wise at his own expense. Montaigne.
A man must be healthy before he can be holy. Mme. Swetchine.
A man must be well off who is irritated by trifles, for in misfortune trifles are not felt. Schopenhauer.
A man must carry knowledge with him if he would bring home knowledge. Johnson.
A man must seek his happiness and inward 25 peace from objects which cannot be taken away from him. W. von Humboldt.
A man must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion. Emerson.
A man must thank his defects, and stand in some terror of his talents. Emerson.
A man must verify or expel his doubts, and convert them into certainty of Yes or No. Carlyle.
A man must wait for the right moment. Schopenhauer.
A man never feels the want of what it never 30 occurs to him to ask for. Schopenhauer.
A man never rises so high as when he knows not whither he is going. Oliver Cromwell.
A man of intellect without energy added to it is a failure. Chamfort.
A man of maxims only is like a Cyclops with one eye, and that eye in the back of his head. Coleridge.
A man of pleasure is a man of pains. Young.
A man often pays dear for a small frugality. 35 Emerson.
A man of the world must seem to be what he wishes to be. La Bruyère.
A man of wit would often be much embarrassed without the company of fools. La Roche.
A man only understands what is akin to some things already in his mind. Amiel.
A man places himself on a level with him whom he praises. Goethe.
A man protesting against error is on the way 40 towards uniting himself with all men that believe in truth. Carlyle.
A man so various, that he seem'd to be, / Not one, but all mankind's epitome. Dryden.
A man that is young in years may be old in hours, if he have lost no time. Bacon.
A man used to vicissitudes is not easily dejected. Johnson.
A man who cannot gird himself into harness will take no weight along these highways. Carlyle.
A man who claps his Pegasus into a harness, 45 and urges on his muse with the whip, will have to pay to Nature the penalty of this trespass. Schopenhauer.
A man who does not know rigour cannot pity either. Carlyle.
A man who feels that his religion is a slavery has not began to comprehend the real nature of it. J. G. Holland.
A man who has nothing to do is the devil's playfellow. J. G. Holland.
A man who is ignorant of foreign languages is ignorant of his own. Goethe.
A man who reads much becomes arrogant and 50 pedantic; one who sees much becomes wise, sociable, and helpful. Lichtenberg.
A man will love or hate solitude—that is, his own society—according as he is himself worthy or worthless. Schopenhauer.
A man will not be observed in doing that which he can do best. Emerson.
A man with half a volition goes backwards and forwards, and makes no way on the smoothest road. Carlyle.
A man with knowledge but without energy, is a house furnished but not inhabited; a man with energy but no knowledge, a house dwelt in but unfurnished. John Sterling.
A man's a man for a' that. Burns. 55
A man's aye crousest in his ain cause. Sc. Pr.
A man's best fortune or his worst is his wife. Pr.
A man's best things are nearest him, / Lie close about his feet. Monckton Milnes.
A man's fate is his own temper. Disraeli.
A man's friends belong no more to him than 60 he to them. Schopenhauer.
A man's gift makes room for him. Pr.
A man's happiness consists infinitely more in admiration of the faculties of others than in confidence in his own. Ruskin.
A man's house is his castle. Pr.
A man's power is hooped in by a necessity, which, by many experiments, he touches on every side until he learns its arc. Emerson.
A man's task is always light if his heart is 65 light. Lew Wallace.
A man's virtue is to be measured not by his extraordinary efforts, but his everyday conduct. Pascal.
A man's walking is a succession of falls. Pr.
A man's wife is his blessing or his bane. Gael. Pr.
Amantes, amentes—In love, in delirium. Ter.
Amantium iræ amoris redintegratio est—The 5 quarrels of lovers bring about a renewal of love. Ter.
A man who cannot mind his own business is not to be trusted with the king's. Saville.
A ma puissance—To my power. M.
Amare et sapere vix deo conceditur—To be in love and act wisely is scarcely in the power of a god. Faber.
[Greek: Hamartôlai... en anthrôpoisin hepontai thnêtois]—Proneness to sin cleaves fast to mortal men. Theognis.
Ambigendi locus—Reason for questioning or 10 doubt.
Ambiguas in vulgum spargere voces—To scatter ambiguous reports among the people. Virg.
Ambition is not a vice of little people. Montaigne.
Ambition is the germ from which all growth in nobleness proceeds. T. D. English.
Ambos oder Hammer—One must be either anvil or hammer. Ger. Pr.
Ame damnée—Mere tool, underling. Fr. 15
Ame de boue—Base, mean soul. Fr.
Amende honorable—Satisfactory apology; reparation. Fr.
A mensâ et thoro—From bed and board; divorced.
A menteur, menteur à demi—To a liar, a liar and a half, i.e., one be a match for him. Fr.
Amentium, haud amantium—Of lunatics, not 20 lovers.
A merchant shall hardly keep himself from doing wrong. Ecclus.
A merciful man is merciful to his beast. Bible.
A mere madness to live like a wretch and die rich. Burton.
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Bible.
A merveille—To a wonder. Fr. 25
Am Golde hängt doch Alles—On gold, after all, hangs everything. Margaret in "Faust."
Amici, diem perdidi—Friends, I have lost a day. Titus (at the close of a day on which he had done good to no one).
Amici probantur rebus adversis—Friends are proved by adversity. Cic.
Amici vitium ni feras, prodis tuum—Unless you bear with the faults of a friend, you betray your own. Pub. Syr.
Amico d'ognuno, amico di nessuno—Everybody's 30 friend is nobody's friend. It. Pr.
Amicorum esse communia omnia—Friends' goods are all common property. Pr.
Amicum ita habeas posse ut fieri hunc inimicum scias—Be on such terms with your friend as if you knew he may one day become your enemy. Laber.
Amicum perdere est damnorum maximum—To lose a friend is the greatest of losses. Syr.
Amicus animæ dimidium—A friend the half of life.
Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur—A true 35 friend is seen when fortune wavers. Ennius.
Amicus curiæ—A friend to the court, i.e., an uninterested adviser in a case.
Amicus est unus animus in duobus corporibus—A friend is one soul in two bodies. Arist.
Amicus humani generis—A friend of the human race.
Amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas—Plato is my friend, but truth is my divinity (lit. more a friend).
Amicus usque ad aras—A friend to the very 40 altar, i.e., to the death.
A mighty maze! but not without a plan. Pope.
A millstone and a man's heart are kept constantly revolving; where they have nothing to grind, they grind and fray away their own substance. Logan.
A mirror is better than a whole gallery of ancestral portraits. Menzel.
A miser is as furious about a halfpenny as the man of ambition about the conquest of a kingdom. Adam Smith.
A miss is as good as a mile. Pr. 45
"Am I to be saved? or am I to be lost?" Certain to be lost, so long as you put that question. Carlyle.
Amittit famam qui se indignis comparat—He loses repute who compares himself with unworthy people. Phædr.
Amittit merito proprium, qui alienum appetit—He who covets what is another's, deservedly loses what is his own. (Moral of the fable of the dog and the shadow.) Phædr.
Am meisten Unkraut trägt der fettste Boden—The fattest soil brings forth the most weeds. Ger. Pr.
A mob is a body voluntarily bereaving itself 50 of reason and traversing its work. Emerson.
A modest confession of ignorance is the ripest and last attainment of philosophy. R. D. Hitchcock.
A moment's insight is sometimes worth a life's experience. Holmes.
A monarchy is apt to fall by tyranny; an aristocracy, by ambition; a democracy, by tumults. Quarles.
Among nations the head has alway preceded the heart by centuries. Jean Paul.
Among the blind the one-eyed is a king. Pr. 55
Amor al cor gentil ratto s' apprende.—Love is quickly learned by a noble heart. Dante.
Amor a nullo amato amar perdona—Love spares no loved one from loving. Dante.
Amor bleibt ein Schalk, und wer ihm vertraut, ist betrogen—Cupid is ever a rogue, and whoever trusts him is deceived. Goethe.
Amore è di sospetti fabro—Love is a forger of suspicions. It. Pr.
Amore sitis uniti—Be ye united in love. 60
Amor et melle et felle est fecundissimus—Love is most fruitful both of honey and gall. Plaut.
Amor et obœdientia—Love and obedience. M.
Amor gignit amorem—Love begets love.
Amor omnibus idem—Love is the same in all. Virg.
Amor patriæ—Love of one's country. 65
Amor proximi—Love for one's neighbour.
Amor tutti eguaglia—Love makes all equal. It. Pr.
Amoto quæramus seria ludo—Jesting aside, let us give attention to serious business. Hor.
Amour avec loyaulté—Love with loyalty. M.
Amour fait moult, argent fait tout—Love can do much, but money can do everything. Fr. Pr.
Amour propre—Vanity; self-love. Fr.
A mouse never trusts its life to one hole only. 5 Plaut.
Amphora cœpit / Institui: currente rota cur urceus exit?—A vase was begun; why from the revolving wheel does it turn out a worthless pitcher? Hor.
Ampliat ætatis spatium sibi vir bonus; hoc est / Vivere bis vitâ posse priore frui—The good man extends the term of his life; it is to live twice, to be able to enjoy one's former life. Mar.
Am Rhein, am Rhein, da wachsen uns're Reben—On the Rhine, on the Rhine, there grow our vines! Claudius.
Am sausenden Webstuhl der Zeit—On the noisy loom of Time. Goethe.
Amt ohne Geld macht Diebe—Office without 10 pay makes thieves. Ger. Pr.
A mucho hablar, mucho errar—Talk much, err much. Sp. Pr.
A multitude of sparks yields but a sorry light. Amiel.
Anacharsis among the Scythians—A wise man among unwise.
An acre in Middlesex is better than a principality in Utopia. Macaulay.
An acre of performance is worth a whole world 15 of promise. Howell.
Analysis is not the business of the poet. His office is to portray, not to dissect. Macaulay.
Analysis kills spontaneity, just as grain, once it is ground into flour, no longer springs and germinates. Amiel.
An ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the commonwealth. Sir H. Wotten.
An ambitious man is slave to everybody. Feijoó.
A name is no despicable matter. Napoleon, 20 for the sake of a great name, broke in pieces almost half a world. Goethe.
An appeal to fear never finds an echo in German hearts. Bismarck.
An archer is known by his aim, not by his arrows. Pr.
An arc in the movement of a large intellect does not differ sensibly from a straight line. Holmes.
An Argus at home, a mole abroad. Pr.
An army, like a serpent, goes on its belly. 25 Frederick the Great (?).
A narrow faith has much more energy than an enlightened one. Amiel.
An artist is a person who has submitted to a law which it is painful to obey, that he may bestow a delight which it is gracious to bestow. Ruskin.
An artist is only then truly praised by us when we forget him in his work. Lessing.
An artist must have his measuring tools, not in the hand, but in the eye. Michael Angelo.
An artist should be fit for the best society, and 30 should keep out of it. Ruskin.
An ass may bray a good while before he shakes the stars down. George Eliot.
A nation which labours, and takes care of the fruits of labour, would be rich and happy, though there were no gold in the universe. Ruskin.
[Greek: Ananka d' oude theoi machontai]—The gods themselves do not fight against necessity. Gr. Pr.
Anche il mar, che è si grande, si pacifica—Even the sea, great though it be, grows calm. It. Pr.
Anch' io sono pittore—I too am a painter. Correggio 35 before a picture of Raphael's.
Anche la rana morderebbe se avesse denti—Even the frog would bite if it had teeth. It. Pr.
Ancient art corporealises the spiritual; modern spiritualises the corporeal. Börne.
Ancient art is plastic; modern, pictorial. Schlegel.
And better had they ne'er been born / Who read to doubt, or read to scorn. Scott.
And can eternity belong to me, / Poor pensioner 40 on the bounties of an hour? Young.
And earthly power doth then show likest God's, / When mercy seasons justice. Mer. of Ven., iv. 1.
And e'en his failings lean'd to virtue's side. Goldsmith.
And found no end, in wand'ring mazes lost. Milton.
And he is oft the wisest man / Who is not wise at all. Wordsworth.
"And is this all?" cried Cæsar at his height, 45 disgusted. Young.
An dives sit omnes quærunt, nemo an bonus—Every one inquires if he is rich; no one asks if he is good.
And Mammon wins his way where seraphs might despair. Byron.
And much it grieved my heart to think / What man has made of man. Wordsworth.
And, often times, excusing of a fault / Doth make the fault worse by the excuse. King John, iv. 2.
And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe, / 50 And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot, / And thereby hangs a tale. As You Like It, ii. 7.
And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew, / That one small head could carry all he knew. Goldsmith.
And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything. As You Like It, ii. 1.
A needle's eye is wide enough for two friends; the whole world is too narrow for two foes. Pers. Pr.
[Greek: Anechou kai apechou]—Bear and forbear. Epictetus.
A nemico che fugge, fa un ponte d'oro—Make 55 a bridge of gold for an enemy who is flying from you. It. Pr.
An empty purse fills the face with wrinkles. Pr.
An epigram often flashes light into regions where reason shines but dimly. Whipple.
[Greek: Anêr ho pheugôn kai palin machêsetai]—The man who runs away will fight again.
An error is the more dangerous in proportion to the degree of truth which it contains. Amiel.
An evening red and morning grey, is a sure sign of a fair day. Pr.
A new broom sweeps clean. Pr.
A new life begins when a man once sees with his own eyes all that before he has but partially read or heard of. Goethe.
A new principle is an inexhaustible source of new views. Vauvenargues.
An eye like Mars, to threaten or command. 5 Ham., iii. 4.
Anfang heiss, Mittel lau, Ende kalt—The beginning hot, the middle lukewarm, the end cold. Ger. Pr.
Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell. Macb., iv. 3.
Angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone. George Eliot.
Anger is like / A full-hot horse; who, being allow'd his way, / Self-mettle tires him. Hen. VIII., i. 2.
Anger is one of the sinews of the soul. Fuller. 10
Anger resteth in the bosom of fools. Bible.
Anger, when it is long in coming, is the stronger when it comes, and the longer kept. Quarles.
Anglicè—In English.
Angling is somewhat like poetry; men are to be born so. Isaak Walton.
Anguis in herbâ—A snake in the grass. 15
An honest citizen who maintains himself industriously has everywhere as much freedom as he wants. Goethe.
An honest man's the noblest work of God. Pope.
An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told. Rich. III., iv. 4.
An idle brain is the devil's workshop. Pr.
An idler is a watch that wants both hands; / 20 As useless if it goes as if it stands. Cowper.
An ill-willie (ill-natured) cow should have short horns. Sc. Pr.
An ill wind that blows nobody good. Pr.
An ill workman quarrels with his tools. Pr.
Animal implume bipes—A two-legged animal without feathers. Plato's definition of man.
Animals can enjoy, but only men can be cheerful. 25 Jean Paul.
Anima mundi—The soul of the world.
Animo ægrotanti medicus est oratio—Kind words are as a physician to an afflicted spirit. Pr.
Animo et fide—By courage and faith. M.
Animo, non astutia—By courage, not by craft. M.
Animum pictura pascit inani—He feeds his soul 30 on the unreal picture. Virg.
Animum rege, qui nisi paret imperat—Rule your spirit well, for if it is not subject to you, it will lord it over you. Hor.
Animus æquus optimum est ærumnæ condimentum—A patient mind is the best remedy for trouble. Plaut.
Animus furandi—The intention of stealing. L.
Animus homini, quicquid sibi imperat, obtinet—The mind of man can accomplish whatever it resolves on.
Animus hominis semper appetit agere aliquid—The 35 mind of man is always longing to do something. Cic.
Animus non deficit æquus—Equanimity does not fail us. M.
Animus quod perdidit optat / Atque in præterita se totus imagine versat—The mind yearns after what is gone, and loses itself in dreaming of the past. Petron.
An indifferent agreement is better than a good verdict. Pr.
An individual helps not; only he who unites with many at the proper time. Goethe.
An individual man is a fruit which it cost all 40 the foregoing ages to form and ripen. Emerson.
An infant crying in the night, / An infant crying for the light; / And with no language but a cry. Tennyson.
An infinitude of tenderness is the chief gift and inheritance of all truly great men. Ruskin.
An innocent man needs no eloquence; his innocence is instead of it. Ben Jonson.
An iron hand in a velvet glove. Charles V., said of a gentle compulsion.
An irreverent knowledge is no knowledge; 45 it may be a development of the logical or other handicraft faculty, but is no culture of the soul of a man. Carlyle.
An nescis longas regibus esse manus?—Do you not know that kings have long, i.e., far-grasping, hands? Ovid.
An nescis, quantilla prudentia mundus regatur (or regatur orbis)?—Do you not know with how very little wisdom the world is governed? Axel Oxenstjerna to his son.
An nichts Geliebtes muszt du dein Gemüt / Also verpfänden, dass dich sein Verlust / Untröstbar machte—Never so set your heart on what you love that its loss may render you inconsolable. Herder.
Anno domini—In the year of our Lord.
Anno mundi—In the year of the world. 50
Annus mirabilis—The year of wonders.
A noble heart will frankly capitulate to reason. Schiller.
A noble man cannot be indebted for his culture to a narrow circle. The world and his native land must act on him. Goethe.
An obstinate man does not hold opinions, but they hold him. Pope.
A nod for a wise man, and a rod for a fool. 55 Heb. Pr.
An old bird is not to be caught with chaff. Pr.
An old knave is no babe. Pr.
An old man in a house is a good sign in a house. Heb. Pr.
An old warrior is never in haste to strike the blow. Metastasio.
An open confession is good for the soul. Pr. 60
An open door may tempt a saint. Pr.
Another such victory and we are done. Pyrrhus after his second victory over the Romans.
An ounce of a man's own wit is worth a pound of other peoples'. Sterne.
An ounce of cheerfulness is worth a pound of sadness to serve God with. Fuller.
An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of 65 wit. Pr.
An ounce o' mother-wit is worth a pound o' clergy. Sc. Pr.
An ounce of practice is worth a pound of preaching. Pr.
An quidquid stultius, quam quos singulos contemnas, eos aliquid putare esse universos?—Can there be any greater folly than the respect you pay to men collectively when you despise them individually? Cic.
[Greek: Anthrôpos ôn tout' isthi kai memnês' aei]—Being a man, know and remember always that thou art one. Philemon Comicus.
[Greek: Anthrôpos physei zôon politikon]—Man is by nature an animal meant for civic life. Arist.
Ante lucem—Before daybreak.
Ante meridiem—Before noon. 5
Ante omnia—Before everything else.
Antequam incipias, consulto; et ubi consulueris, facto opus est—Before you begin, consider well; and when you have considered, act. Sall.
Ante senectutem curavi, ut bene viverem; in senectute, ut bene moriar—Before old age, it was my chief care to live well; in old age, it is to die well. Sen.
Ante tubam tremor occupat artus—We tremble all over before the bugle sounds. Virg.
Ante victoriam ne canas triumphum—Don't 10 celebrate your triumph before you have conquered.
Anticipation forward points the view. Burns.
Antiquâ homo virtute ac fide—A man of antique valour and fidelity. M.
Antiquitas sæculi juventus mundi—The ancient time of the world was the youth of the world. Bacon.
An unimaginative person can neither be reverent nor kind. Ruskin.
Anxiety is the poison of human life. Blair. 15
Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man's features; any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them. Thoreau.
Any port in a storm. Sc. Pr.
Any road will lead you to the end of the world. Schiller.
Anything for a quiet life. Pr.
"A pack of kinless loons;" said of Cromwell's 20 judges by the Scotch.
Apage, Satana—Begone, Satan!
A patron is one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and when he has reached the land encumbers him with help. Johnson.
[Greek: Hapax legomenon]—A word that occurs only once in an author or book.
A peck of March dust is worth a king's ransom. Pr.
A pedant is a precocious old man. De Boufflers. 25
A penny hained (saved) is a penny gained. Sc. Pr.
Aperçu—A sketch. Fr.
A perfect woman, nobly planned, / To warn, to comfort, and command. Wordsworth.
Aperit præcordia liber—Wine opens the seals of the heart. Hor.
A perte de vue—Beyond the range of vision. Fr. 30
Aperte mala cum est mulier, tum demum est bona—A woman when she is openly bad, is at least honest.
Aperto vivere voto—To live with every wish avowed. Pers.
A pet lamb makes a cross ram. Pr.
Aphorisms are portable wisdom. W. R. Alger.
Apio opus est—There is need of parsley, i.e., 35 to strew on the grave, meaning that one is dying.
A pity that the eagle should be mew'd, / While kites and buzzards prey at liberty. Rich. III., i. 1.
A place for everything, and everything in its place. Pr.
A plague of sighing and grief; it blows a man up like a bladder. 1 Hen. IV., i. 4.
A plant often removed cannot thrive. Pr.
A pleasing figure is a perpetual letter of recommendation. 40 Bacon.
[Greek: Aplêstos pithos]—A cask that cannot be filled (being pierced at the bottom with holes.) Pr.
A plomb—Perpendicularly; firmly. Fr.
A poem is the very image of life expressed in its eternal truth. Schelling.
A poet is a nightingale, who sits in the darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds. Shelley.
A poet must be before his age, to be even with 45 posterity. Lowell.
A poet must sing for his own people. Stedman.
A poet on canvas is exactly the same species of creature as a poet in song. Ruskin.
A poison which acts not at once is not therefore a less dangerous poison. Lessing.
A position of eminence makes a great man greater and a little man less. La Bruyère.
Apothegms are, in history, the same as the 50 pearls in the sand or the gold in the mine. Erasmus.
[Greek: 'Ap' echthrôn polla manthanousin hoi sophoi]—Wise men learn many things from their enemies. Aristoph.
A point—To a point exactly. Fr.
Apollo himself confessed it was ecstasy to be a man among men. Schiller.
A posse ad esse—From possibility to actuality.
A posteriori—From the effect to the cause; by 55 induction.
Apothecaries would not sugar their pills unless they were bitter. Pr.
A pound of care won't pay an ounce of debt. Pr.
Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto—A few are seen swimming here and there in the vast abyss. Virg.
Appetitus rationi pareat—Let reason govern desire. Cic.
Applause is the spur of noble minds, the aim 60 and end of weak ones. Colton.
Après la mort le médecin—After death the doctor. Fr. Pr.
Après la pluie, le beau temps—After the rain, fair weather. Fr. Pr.
Après nous le déluge—After us the deluge! Mme. de Pompadour.
A primrose by a river's brim / A yellow primrose was to him, / And it was nothing more. Wordsworth.
A prince can mak' a belted knight, / A marquis, 65 duke, and a' that; / But an honest man's aboon his might, / Gude faith, he maunna fa' that. Burns.
A priori—From the cause to the effect; by deduction.
A progress of society on the one hand, a decline of souls on the other. Amiel.
A promise is a debt. Gael. Pr.
A propensity to hope and joy is real riches; one to fear and sorrow, real poverty. Hume.
A prophet is not without honour, save in his 5 own country, and in his own house. Jesus.
A propos—To the point; seasonably; in due time. Fr.
A propos de bottes—By-the-bye. Fr.
A proverb is good sense brought to a point. John Morley.
A proverb is much matter decocted into few words. Fuller.
Apt alliteration's artful aid. Churchill. 10
Apt to revolt, and willing to rebel, / And never are contented when they're well. Defoe.
A puñadas entran las buenas hadas—Good luck pushes its way (lit. gets on) by elbowing. Sp. Pr.
A purpose you impart is no longer your own. Goethe.
A quatre épingles—With four pins, i.e., done up like a dandy. Fr.
Aquel pierde venta que no tiene que venda—He 15 who has nothing to sell loses his market. Sp. Pr.
A quien tiene buena muger, ningun mal le puede venir, que no sea de sufrir—To him who has a good wife no evil can come which he cannot bear. Sp. Pr.
Aquilæ senectus—The old age of the eagle. Ter.
Aquila non capit muscas—An eagle does not catch flies. M.
A qui veut rien n'est impossible—Nothing is impossible to one with a will. Fr. Pr.
A raconter ses maux, souvent on les soulage—Our 20 misfortunes are often lightened by relating them. Corneille.
A ragged colt may make a good horse. Pr.
Aranearum telas texere—To weave spiders' webs, i.e., a tissue of sophistry.
Arbeit ist des Blutes Balsam: / Arbeit ist der Tugend Quell—Labour is balm to the blood: labour is the source of virtue. Herder.
Arbiter bibendi—The master of the feast (lit. the judge of the drinking).
Arbiter elegantiarum—The arbitrator of elegances; 25 the master of the ceremonies.
Arbiter formæ—Judge of beauty.
Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness. Washington.
Arbore dejecta qui vult ligna colligit—When the tree is thrown down, any one that likes may gather the wood. Pr.
Arbores serit diligens agricola, quarum aspiciet baccam ipse nunquam—The industrious husbandman plants trees, not one berry of which he will ever see. Cic.
"Arcades ambo," id est, blackguards both. 30 Byron.
Arcana imperii—State, or government, secrets.
[Greek: Archê andra deixei]—Office will prove the man.
Architecture is petrified music. Schelling, De Staël, Goethe.
Architecture is the work of nations. Ruskin.
[Greek: Archôn oudeis hamartanei tote hotan archôn ê]—No 35 ruler can sin so long as he is a ruler.
Ardeat ipsa licet, tormentis gaudet amantis—Though she is aflame herself, she delights in the torments of her lover. Juv.
Ardentia verba—Glowing words.
Arde verde por seco, y pagan justos por pecadores—Green burns for dry, and just men smart (lit. pay) for transgressors. Sp. Pr.
Ardua molimur: sed nulla nisi ardua virtus—I attempt an arduous task; but there is no worth that is not of difficult achievement. Ovid.
A really great talent finds its happiness in 40 execution. Goethe.
A reasoning mule will neither lead nor drive. Mallett.
A rebours—Reversed. Fr.
A reconciled friend is a double enemy. Pr.
A reculons—Backwards. Fr.
A re decedunt—They wander from the point. 45
A refusal is less than nothing. Platen.
Arena sine calce—Sand without cement, i.e., speech unconnected. Suet.
Arenæ mandas semina—You are sowing grain in the sand. Pr.
A republic is properly a polity in which the state, with its all, is at every man's service; and every man, with his all, is at the state's service. Ruskin.
Ares, no ares, renta me pagues—Plough or not 50 plough, you must pay rent all the same. Sp. Pr.
A rez de chaussée—Even with the ground. Fr.
Argent comptant—Ready money. Fr.
Argent comptant porte medicine—Ready money works great cures. Fr. Pr.
Argentum accepi, dote imperium vendidi—I have received money, and sold my authority for her dowry. Plaut.
Argilla quidvis imitaberis uda—You may model 55 any form you please out of damp clay. Hor.
Argument, as usually managed, is the worst sort of conversation; as it is generally in books the worst sort of reading. Swift.
Argument is like an arrow from a cross-bow, which has great force though shot by a child. Bacon.
Argumentum ad crumenam—An appeal to self-interest.
Argumentum ad hominem—An argument in refutation drawn from an opponent's own principles (lit. an argument to the man).
Argumentum ad ignorantiam—An argument 60 founded on the ignorance of an adversary.
Argumentum ad invidiam—An argument which appeals to low passions.
Argumentum ad judicium—An appeal to common sense.
Argumentum ad misericordiam—An appeal to the mercy of your adversary.
Argumentum ad populum—An appeal to popular prejudice.
Argumentum ad verecundiam—An appeal to 65 respect for some authority.
Argumentum baculinum—Club argument, i.e., by physical force.
Argus at home, a mole abroad. It. Pr.
Argus-eyes—Eyes ever wakeful and watchful.
A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Bible.
[Greek: Ariston metron]—A mean or middle course is best. Cleobulus.
[Greek: Ariston men hydôr]—Water is best. Pindar.
Aristocracy has three successive ages—of superiorities, of privileges, and of vanities; having passed out of the first, it degenerates in the second, and dies away in the third. Chateaubriand.
Arma amens capio; nec sat rationis in armis—I 5 madly take to arms; but have not wit enough to use them to any purpose. Virg.
Arma cerealia—The arms of Ceres, i.e., implements connected with the preparation of corn and bread.
Arm am Beutel, krank am Herzen—Poor in purse, sick at heart. Goethe.
Arma pacis fulcra—Arms are the props of peace. M.
Arma tenenti omnia dat, qui justa negat—He who refuses what is just, gives up everything to an enemy in arms. Luc.
Arma, viri, ferte arma; vocat lux ultima victos, / 10 Nunquam omnes hodie moriemur inulti—Arms, ye men, bring me arms! their last day summons the vanquished. We shall never all die unavenged this day. Virg.
Armé de foi hardi—Bold from being armed with faith. M.
Armes blanches—Side arms. Fr.
Arm in Arm mit dir, / So fordr' ich mein Jahrhundert in die Schranken—Arm in arm with thee, I defy the century to gainsay me. Schiller.
Arms and the man I sing. Virg.
Armuth des Geistes Gott erfreut, / Armuth, 15 und nicht Armseligkeit—It is poverty of spirit that God delights in—poverty, and not beggarliness. Claudius.
Armuth ist der sechste Sinn—Poverty is the sixth sense. Ger. Pr.
Armuth ist die grösste Plage, / Reichtum ist das höchste Gut—Poverty is the greatest calamity, riches the highest good. Goethe.
Armuth ist listig, sie fängt auch einen Fuchs—Poverty is crafty; it outwits (lit. catches) even a fox. Ger. Pr.
Armuth und Hunger haben viel gelehrte Jünger—Poverty and hunger have many learned disciples. Ger. Pr.
A rogue is a roundabout fool. Coleridge. 20
A rolling stone gathers no moss. Pr.
A Rome comment à Rome—At Rome do as Rome does. Fr. Pr.
A royal heart is often hid under a tattered coat. Dan. Pr.
Arrectis auribus adsto—I wait with listening ears. Virg.
Arrière pensée—A mental reservation. Fr. 25
Arrogance is the obstruction of wisdom. Bion.
Ars artium omnium conservatrix—The art preservative of all others, viz., printing.
Ars est celare artem—It is the perfection of art to conceal art. Ovid.
Ars est sine arte, cujus principium est mentiri, medium laborare, et finis mendicare—It is an art without art, which has its beginning in falsehood, its middle in toil, and its end in poverty. Applied originally to the pursuits of the Alchemists.
Ars longa, vita brevis—Art is long, life is short. 30
Ars varia vulpis, ast una echino maxima—The fox has many tricks; the hedgehog only one, and that greatest of all. Pr.
Art does not represent things falsely, but truly as they appear to mankind. Ruskin.
Arte magistra—By the aid of art. Virg.
Art is a jealous mistress. Emerson.
Art is long and time is fleeting, / And our 35 hearts, though stout and brave, / Still, like muffled drums, are beating / Funeral marches to the grave. Longfellow.
Art is noble, but the sanctuary of the human soul is nobler still. W. Winter.
Art is not the bread indeed, but it is the wine of life. Jean Paul.
Art is simply a bringing into relief of the obscure thought of Nature. Amiel.
Art is the mediatrix of the unspeakable. Goethe.
Art is the path of the creator to his work. 40 Emerson.
Art is the work of man under the guidance and inspiration of a mightier power. Hare.
Artists are of three classes: those who perceive and pursue the good, and leave the evil; those who perceive and pursue the good and evil together, the whole thing as it verily is; and those who perceive and pursue the evil, and leave the good. Ruskin.
Artium magister—Master of arts.
Art may err, but Nature cannot miss. Dryden.
Art may make a suit of clothes, but Nature 45 must produce a man. Hume.
Art must anchor in nature, or it is the sport of every breath of folly. Hazlitt.
Art must not be a superficial talent, but must begin further back in man. Emerson.
Art, not less eloquently than literature, teaches her children to venerate the single eye. Willmott.
Art not thou a man? Bible.
Art rests on a kind of religious sense, on a 50 deep, steadfast earnestness; and on this account it unites so readily with religion. Goethe.
Art thou afraid of death, and dost thou wish to live for ever? Live in the whole that remains when thou hast long been gone (wenn du lange dahin bist). Schiller.
A rude âne rude ânier—A stubborn driver to a stubborn ass. Fr. Pr.
A rusty nail, placed near the faithful compass, / Will sway it from the truth, and wreck the argosy. Scott.
A sage is the instructor of a hundred ages. Emerson.
A saint abroad, a devil at home. Pr. 55
A saint in crape is twice a saint in lawn. Pope.
As all men have some access to primary truth, so all have some art or power of communication in the head, but only in the artist does it descend into the hand. Emerson.
As a man makes his bed, so must he lie. Gael. Pr.
As a priest, or interpreter of the holy, is the noblest and highest of all men; so is a sham priest the falsest and basest. Carlyle.
A satirical poet is the check of the layman on 60 bad priests. Dryden.
As a tree falls, so shall it lie. Pr.
[Greek: asbestos gelôs]—Unquenchable, or Homeric, laughter. Hom.
A scalded cat dreads cauld water. Sc. Pr.
As dear to me as are the ruddy drops / That visit my sad heart. Jul. Cæs., ii. 1.
A second Daniel. Mer. of Ven., iv. 1.
A secret is in my custody if I keep it; but if 5 I blab it, it is I that am prisoner. Arab Pr.
A self-denial no less austere than the saint's is demanded of the scholar. Emerson.
As ever in my great taskmaster's eye. Milton.
As every great evil, so every excessive power wears itself out at last. Herder.
As falls the dew on quenchless sands, / Blood only serves to wash ambition's hands. Byron.
As for discontentments, they are in the politic 10 body like humours in the natural, which are apt to gather a preternatural heat and inflame. Bacon.
As formerly we suffered from wickedness, so now we suffer from the laws. Tac.
As for murmurs, mother, we grumble a little now and then, to be sure. But there's no love lost between us. Goldsmith.
As for talkers and futile persons, they are commonly vain and credulous withal. Bacon.
As from the wing no scar the sky retains, / The parted wave no furrow from the keel; So dies in human hearts the thought of death. Young.
As good be out of the world as out of the 15 fashion. Pr.
As good almost kill a man as kill a good book; who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good book kills reason itself. Milton.
As guid fish i' the sea as e'er came oot o't. Sc. Pr.
As guid may haud (hold) the stirrup as he that loups on. Sc. Pr.
A's guid that God sends. Sc. Pr.
As he alone is a good father who at table serves 20 his children first, so is he alone a good citizen who, before all other outlays, discharges what he owes to the state. Goethe.
As he who has health is young, so he who owes nothing is rich. Pr.
A short cut is often a wrong cut. Dan. Pr.
A sicht (sight) o' you is guid for sair een. Sc. Pr.
A sick man's sacrifice is but a lame oblation. Sir Thomas Browne.
As idle as a painted ship / Upon a painted 25 ocean. Coleridge.
A sight to dream of, not to tell. Coleridge.
A silent man's words are not brought into court. Dan. Pr.
A sillerless (moneyless) man gangs fast through the market. Sc. Pr.
A silver key can open an iron lock. Pr.
A simple child, / That lightly draws its breath, / 30 And feels its life in every limb, / What should it know of death? Wordsworth.
A simple maiden in her flower, / Is worth a hundred coats of arms. Tennyson.
A simple, manly character need never make an apology. Emerson.
As in a theatre, the eyes of men, / After a well-graced actor leaves the stage, / Are idly bent on him that enters next, / Thinking his prattle to be tedious. Rich. II., v. 2.
A single grateful thought turned heavenwards is the most perfect prayer. Lessing.
A single moment may transform everything. 35 Wieland.
A single word is often a concentrated poem, a little grain of pure gold, capable of being beaten out into a broad extent of gold-leaf. Trench.
Asinum sub fræno currere docere—To teach an ass to obey the rein, i.e., to labour in vain. Pr.
Asinus ad lyram—An ass at the lyre, i.e., one unsusceptible of music.
Asinus asino, et sus sui pulcher—An ass is beautiful to an ass, and a pig to a pig. Pr.
Asinus in tegulis—An ass on the house-tiles. 40
Asinus inter simias—An ass among apes, i.e., a fool among people who make a fool of him. Pr.
Asinus in unguento—An ass among perfumes, i.e., things he cannot appreciate.
As is the garden, such is the gardener. Heb. Pr.
As is the man, so is his God. Rückert, Goethe.
A sip is the most that mortals are permitted 45 from any goblet of delight. A. B. Alcott.
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. Jesus.
Ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein. Bible.
Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no fibs. Goldsmith.
Ask why God made the gem so small, / And why so huge the granite? / Because God meant mankind should set / The higher value on it. Burns.
As long as any man exists, there is some need 50 of him. Emerson.
As long lives a merry heart as a sad. Pr.
As love without esteem is capricious and volatile, esteem without love is languid and cold. Swift.
A slow fire makes sweet malt. Pr.
A small man, if he stands too near a great, may see single portions well, and, if he will survey the whole, must stand too far off, where his eyes do not reach the details. Goethe.
A small sorrow distracts us, a great one makes 55 us collected. Jean Paul.
A small unkindness is a great offence. Hannah More.
As man, perhaps, the moment of his breath, / Receives the lurking principle of death; / The young disease, that must subdue at length, / Grows with his growth, and strengthens with his strength. Pope.
As many suffer from too much as too little. Bovee.
A smart coat is a good letter of introduction. Dut. Pr.
As merry as the day is long. Much Ado, ii. 1. 60
A smile abroad is oft a scowl at home. Tennyson.
A smile re-cures the wounding of a frown. Shakespeare.
As much love, so much mind, or heart. Lat. Pr.
As much virtue as there is, so much appears; as much goodness as there is, so much reverence it commands. Emerson.
A snapper up of unconsidered trifles. Winter's Tale, iv. 2.
A society of people will cursorily represent a certain culture, though there is not a gentleman or a lady in the group. Emerson.
A soldier, / Seeking the bubble reputation / Even in the cannon's mouth. As You Like It, ii. 7.
A solis ortu usque ad occasum—From where the sun rises to where it sets.
A song will outlive all sermons in the memory. 5 Henry Giles.
A sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier things. Tennyson.
A sorrow shared is but half a trouble, / But a joy that's shared is a joy made double. Pr.
A' sottili cascano le brache—The cloak sometimes falls off a cunning man. It. Pr.
A soul without reflection, like a pile / Without inhabitant, to ruin runs. Young.
A spark neglected makes a mighty fire. Herrick. 10
A species is a succession of individuals which perpetuates itself. Cuvier.
Asperæ facetiæ ubi multum ex vero traxere, acrem sui memoriam relinquunt—Satire, when it comes near the truth, leaves a sharp sting behind it. Tac.
Asperius nihil est humili, cum surgit in altum—Nothing is more offensive than a low-bred man in a high station. Claud.
Aspettare e non venire, / Stare in letto e non dormire, / Ben servire e non gradire, / Son tre cose da morire—To wait for what never comes, to lie abed and not sleep, to serve and not be advanced, are three things to die of. It. Pr.
A spirit may be known from only a single 15 thought. Swedenborg.
As poor as Job. Merry Wives, v. 5.
A spot is most seen on the finest cloth. Pr.
As proud go behind as before. Pr.
A spur in the head is worth two in the heels. Pr.
As reason is a rebel unto faith, so is passion 20 unto reason. Sir T. Browne.
Assai acqua passa per il molino, che il molinaio non se n'accorge—A good deal of water passes by the mill which the miller takes no note of. It. Pr.
Assai basta, e troppo guasta—Enough is enough, and too much spoils. It. Pr.
Assai ben balla, à chi fortuna suona—He dances well to whom fortune pipes. It. Pr.
Assai è ricco à chi non manca—He is rich enough who has no wants. It. Pr.
Assai guadagna chi vano sperar perde—He 25 gains a great deal who loses a vain hope. It. Pr.
Assai sa, chi non sa, se tacer sa—He who knows not, knows a good deal if he knows how to hold his tongue. It. Pr.
Assez a qui se contente—He has enough who is content. Fr. Pr.
Assez dort qui rien ne fait—He sleeps enough who does nothing. Fr. Pr.
Assez gagne qui malheur perd—He gains enough who gets rid of a sorrow. Fr. Pr.
Assez sait qui sait vivre et se taire—He knows 30 enough who knows how to live and how to keep his own counsel. Fr. Pr.
Assez tôt si assez bien—Soon enough if well enough. Fr. Pr.
Assez y a, si trop n'y a—There is enough where there is not too much. Fr. Pr.
Associate with the good, and you will be esteemed one of them. Sp. Pr.
As some tall cliff, that lifts its awful form, / Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm, / Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, / Eternal sunshine settles on its head. Goldsmith.
As soon as a man is born he begins to die. 35 Ger. Pr.
As soon as beauty is sought, not from religion and love, but for pleasure, it degrades the seeker. Emerson.
As soon as the soul sees any object, it stops before that object. Emerson.
Assume a virtue, if you have it not. Ham., iii. 4.
Assumpsit—An action on a verbal promise. L.
Assurance is two-thirds of success. Gael. Pr. 40
A state is never greater than when all its superfluous hands are employed in the service of the public. Hume.
A state of violence cannot be perpetual, or disaster and ruin would be universal. Bp. Burnet.
A statesman requires rather a large converse with men, and much intercourse in life, than deep study of books. Burke.
A stern discipline pervades all Nature, which is a little cruel that it may be very kind. Spenser.
As the births of living creatures at first are 45 ill-shapen, so are all innovations, which are the births of time. Bacon.
As the first order of wisdom is to know thyself, so the first order of charity is to be sufficient for thyself. Ruskin.
As the fool thinks, the bell clinks. Pr.
As the good man saith, so say we: / As the good woman saith, so it must be. Pr.
As the husband is, the wife is: / Thou art mated with a clown, / And the grossness of his nature / Will have weight to drag thee down. Tennyson.
As the man is, so is his strength. Bible. 50
As the old cock crows, the young one learns. Pr.
As there is no worldly gain without some loss, so there is no worldly loss without some gain. Quarles.
As the sun breaks through the darkest clouds, / So honour peereth in the meanest habit. Tam. of Shrew, iv. 3.
As the youth lives in the future, so the man lives with the past; no one knows rightly how to live in the present. Grillparzer.
As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Bible. 55
A still, small voice. Bible.
A stitch in time saves nine. Pr.
As to the value of conversions, God alone can judge. Goethe.
Astra castra, numen lumen—The stars my camp, the deity my light. M.
Astræa redux—Return of the goddess of justice. 60
A straight line is the shortest in morals as well as in geometry. Rahel.
A strange fish. Tempest, ii. 2.
Astra regunt homines, sed regit astra Deus—The stars govern men, but God governs the stars.
A strenuous soul hates cheap success. Emerson.
A strong memory is generally joined to a weak judgment. Montaigne.
A strong soil that has produced weeds may be made to produce wheat with far less difficulty than it would cost to make it produce nothing. Colton.
Astronomy has revealed the great truth that 5 the whole universe is bound together by one all-pervading influence. Leitch.
A' Stuarts are no sib (related) to the king (the family name of the Scotch kings being Stuart). Sc. Pr.
Astutior coccyge—More crafty than the cuckoo (who deposits her eggs in another bird's nest). Pr.
A subject's faults a subject may proclaim, / A monarch's errors are forbidden game. Cowper.
A substitute shines brightly as a king, until a king be by. Mer. of Ven., v. 1.
A sudden thought strikes me, / Let us swear 10 an eternal friendship. Canning.
A sunbeam passes through pollution unpolluted. Eusebius.
A surfeit of sweetest things. Mid. N.'s Dream, ii. 3.
As water spilt upon the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Bible.
As we advance in life, we learn the limits of our abilities. Froude.
As we are born to work, so others are born to 15 watch over us while working. Goldsmith.
As weel be oot o' the world as oot o' the fashion. Sc. Pr.
As wholesome meat corrupteth to little worms, so good forms and orders corrupt into a number of petty observances. Bacon.
As yet a child, not yet a fool to fame, / I lisp'd in numbers, for the numbers came. Pope.
As you do to others, expect others to do to you. Pr.
As you make your bed you must lie on it. Pr. 20
As you sow you shall reap. Pr.
A tale never loses in the telling. Pr.
A talisman that shall turn base metal into precious, Nature acknowledges not; but a talisman to turn base souls into noble, Nature has given us; and that is a "philosopher's stone," but it is a stone which the builders refuse. Ruskin.
A tâtons—Groping. Fr.
A tattler is worse than a thief. Pr. 25
A (man of) teachable mind will hang about a wise man's neck. Bp. Patrick.
At every trifle scorn to take offence; / That always shows great pride or little sense. Pope.
At first one omits writing for a little while; and then one stays a little while to consider of excuses; and at last it grows desperate, and one does not write at all. Swift.
[Greek: Athanatous men prôta theous, nomô hôs diakeitai Tima]—Reverence, first of all, the immortal gods, as prescribed by law. Pythagoras.
At the gates of the forest the surprised man 30 of the world is forced to leave his city estimates of great and small, wise and foolish. Emerson.
Atheism is rather in the life than in the heart of man. Bacon.
Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation, all which may be guides to an outward moral virtue, though religion were not; but superstition dismounts all these, and erecteth an absolute monarchy in the minds of men. Bacon.
A thief knows a thief, as a wolf knows a wolf. Pr.
A thing is the bigger of being shared. Gael. Pr.
A thing is what it is, only in and by means of 35 its limit. Hegel.
A thing is worth what it can do for you, not what you choose to pay for it. Ruskin.
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever; / Its loveliness increases; it will never / Pass into nothingness. Keats.
A thing you don't want is dear at any price. Pr.
A thinking man is the worst enemy the Prince of Darkness can have. Carlyle.
A third interprets motion, looks, and eyes, / 40 At every word a reputation dies. Pope.
A thorn is a changed bud. T. Lynch.
A thorough-paced antiquary not only remembers what others have thought proper to forget, but he also forgets what others think proper to remember. Colton.
A thousand years scarce serve to form a state; / An hour may lay it in the dust. Byron.
A thread will tie an honest man better than a rope will do a rogue. Sc. Pr.
A threatened blow is seldom given. Pr. 45
A threefold cord is not quickly broken. Bible.
A thrill passes through all men at the reception of a new truth, or at the performance of a great action, which comes out of the heart of nature.... By the necessity of our constitution, a certain enthusiasm attends the individual's consciousness of that Divine presence. Emerson.
At ingenium ingens / Inculto latet hoc sub corpore—Yet under this rude exterior lies concealed a mighty genius. Hor.
At no age should a woman be allowed to govern herself as she pleases. H. Mann.
A tocherless dame sits lang at hame. Sc. Pr. 50
A toom (empty) pantry maks a thriftless guid-wife. Sc. Pr.
A tort et à travers—Without consideration; at random. Fr.
A toute force—With all one's force. Fr.
A toute seigneur tout honneur—Let every one have his due honour. Fr. Pr.
At pulchrum est digito monstrari et dicier hic 55 est—Yet it is a fine thing to be pointed at with the finger and have it said, This is he! Persius.
Atque in rege tamen pater est—And yet in the king there is the father. Ovid.
Atqui vultus erat multa et præclara minantis—And yet you had the look of one that promised (lit. threatened) many fine things. Hor.
A trade of barbarians. Napoleon on war.
A tragic farce. Lille.
A travelled man has leave to lie. Pr. 60
A traveller of taste at once perceives that the wise are polite all the world over, but that fools are only polite at home. Goldsmith.
A tree is known by its fruit. Pr.
Atria regum hominibus plena sunt, amicis vacua—The courts of kings are full of men, empty of friends. Sen.
Atrocitatis mansuetudo est remedium—Gentleness is the antidote for cruelty. Phædr.
A true-bred merchant is the best gentleman in the nation. Defoe.
A true genius may be known by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him. Swift.
A true man hates no one. Napoleon. 5
A truly great genius will be the first to prescribe limits for its own exertions. Brougham.
A truth / Looks freshest in the fashion of the day. Tennyson.
A truth to an age that has rejected and trampled on it, is not a word of peace, but a sword. Henry George.
At spes non fracta—Yet hope is not broken. M.
Attempts at reform, when they fail, strengthen 10 despotism; as he that struggles tightens those cords he does not succeed in breaking. Colton.
Attempt the end, and never stand to doubt; / Nothing's so hard, but search will find it out. Herrick.
Attendez à la nuit pour dire que le jour a été beau—Wait till night before saying that the day has been fine. Fr. Pr.
Attention makes the genius; all learning, fancy, and science depend on it. Willmott.
At the sight of a man we too say to ourselves, Let us be men. Amiel.
At thirty, man suspects himself a fool, / Knows 15 it at forty, and reforms his plan. / At fifty, chides his infamous delay. / Pushes his prudent purpose to resolve. / Resolves—and re-resolves; then dies the same. Young.
At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment. Grattan.
A tu hijo, buen nombre y oficio—To your son a good name and a trade. Sp. Pr.
A tutti non si adatta una sola scarpa—One shoe does not fit every foot. It. Pr.
At vindictum bonum vita jucundius ipsa. Nempe hoc indocti—But revenge is a blessing sweeter than life itself; so rude men feel. Juv.
At whose sight all the stars / Hide their diminished 20 heads. Milton.
Au bon droit—By good right. Fr.
Au bout de son Latin—At his wit's end (lit. at the end of his Latin). Fr.
Au bout du compte—After the close of the account; after all. Fr.
Auch aus entwölkter Höhe / Kann der zündende Donner schlagen; / Darum in deinen fröhlichen Tagen / Fürchte des Unglücks tückische Nähe—Even out of a cloudless heaven the flaming thunderbolt may strike; therefore in thy days of joy have a fear of the spiteful neighbourhood of misfortune. Schiller.
Auch Bücher haben ihr Erlebtes, das ihnen 25 nicht entzogen werden kann—Even books have their lifetime, of which no one can deprive them. Goethe.
Auch das Schöne muss sterben—Even what is beautiful must die. Schiller.
Auch der Löwe muss sich vor der Mücke wehren—Even the lion has to defend itself against flies. Ger. Pr.
Auch die Gerechtigkeit trägt eine Binde, / Und schliesst die Augen jedem Blendwerk zu—Even Justice wears a bandage, and shuts her eyes on everything deceptive. Goethe.
Auch die Kultur, die alle Welt beleckt, / Hat auf den Teufel sich erstreckt—Culture, which has licked all the world into shape, has reached even the devil. Goethe.
Auch die Kunst ist Himmelsgabe, / Borgt sie 30 gleich von ird'scher Glut—Art is a gift of Heaven, yet does it borrow its fire from earthly passion. Schiller.
Auch ein Haar hat seinen Schatten—Even a hair casts its shadow. Ger. Pr.
Auch für die rauhe Brust giebt's Augenblicke / Wo dunkle Mächte Melodien wecken—Even the rude breast has moments in which dark powers awaken melodies. Körner.
Auch ich war ein Jüngling mit lockigem Haar, / An Mut und an Hoffnungen reich—I too was once a youth with curly locks, rich in courage and in hopes. Lortzing.
Auch ich war in Arkadien geboren, / Und ward daraus entführt vom neidischen Glücke. / Ist hier der Rückweg? fragt' ich jede Brücke, / Der Eingang hier? fragt' ich an allen Thoren—I too was born in Arcadia, and was lured away by envious Fortune. "Is this the way back?" asked I at every bridge-way; "This the entrance?" asked I at every portal. Rückert.
Auch in der That ist Raum für Ueberlegung—Even 35 in the moment of action there is room for consideration. Goethe.
Auch was Geschriebenes forderst du, Pedant? / Hast du noch keinen Mann, nicht Mannes-Wort gekannt?—Dost thou, O pedant, require something written too? Hast thou never yet known a man, not word of man? Faust.
Au courant—Perfectly acquainted with. Fr.
Auctor pretiosa facit—The giver makes the gift valuable. M.
Aucto splendore resurgo—I rise again with access of splendour. M.
Aucun chemin de fleurs ne conduit à la gloire—No 40 path of flowers conducts to glory. La Font.
Audacia pro muro habetur—Daring is regarded as a wall. Sallust.
Audacter calumniare, semper aliquid hæret—Calumniate boldly, always some of it sticks. Bacon.
Audacter et sincere—Boldly and heartily. M.
Audax ad omnia fœmina, quæ vel amat vel odit—A woman, when she either loves or hates, will dare anything. Pr.
Audax omnia perpeti / Gens humana ruit per 45 vetitum et nefas—Daring to face all hardships, the human race dashes through every human and divine restraint. Hor.
Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris et carcere dignum, / Si vis esse aliquis—Dare to do something worthy of transportation and imprisonment, if you wish to be somebody. Juv.
Audendo magnus tegitur timor—Great fear is concealed under daring. Lucan.
Audentes Fortuna juvat—Fortune favours the brave. Virg.
Au dernier les os—For the last the bones. Fr. Pr.
Aude sapere—Dare to be wise. 50
Au désespoir—In despair. Fr.
Audi alteram partem—Hear the other party; hear both sides. L. Max.
Audiatur et altera pars—Let the other side also have a hearing. Sen.
Audio sed taceo—I hear, but say nothing. M.
Audita querela—The complaint having been investigated. L.
Auditque vocatus Apollo—And Apollo hears 5 when invoked. Virg.
Audi, vide, tace, si vis vivere in pace—Use your ears and eyes, but hold your tongue, if you would live in peace.
Au fait—Expert; skilful. Fr.
Auf dem Grund des Glaubenmeeres / Liegt die Perle der Erkenntniss; Heil dem Taucher, der sie findet—At the bottom of the faith-sea lies the pearl of knowledge; happy the diver that finds it. Bodenstedt.
Auf den Bergen ist Freiheit—On the mountains is freedom. Schiller.
Auf die warnenden Symptome sieht kein 10 Mensch, auf die Schmeichelnden und Versprechenden allein ist die Aufmerksamkeit gerichtet—To the warning word no man has respect, only to the flattering and promising is his attention directed. Goethe.
Auf Dinge, die nicht mehr zu ändern sind, / Muss auch kein Blick zurück mehr fallen! Was / Gethan ist, ist gethan und bleiht's—On things which are no more to be changed a backward glance must be no longer cast! What is done is done, and so remains. Schiller.
Auf ebnem Boden straucheln ist ein Scherz, / Ein Fehltritt stürzt vom Gipfel dich herab—To stumble on a level surface is matter of jest; by a false step on a height you are hurled to the ground. Goethe.
Auferimur cultu: gemmis auroque teguntur / Omnia; pars minima est ipsa puella sui—Dress deceives us: jewels and gold hide everything: the girl herself is the least part of herself. Ovid.
Aufgeschoben ist nicht aufgehoben—Postponed is not abandoned. Ger. Pr.
Aufklärung—Illuminism. Ger. 15
Au fond—To the bottom. Fr.
Aufrichtig zu sein kann ich versprechen; unparteiisch zu sein aber nicht—I can promise to be candid, but not to be impartial. Goethe.
Auf Teufel reimt der Zweifel nur; / Da bin ich recht am Platze—Only Zweifel (doubt) rhymes to Teufel (devil); here am I quite at home. The Sceptic in "Faust."
Auf Wind und Meer gebautes Glück ist schwankend—The fortune is insecure that is at the mercy of wind and wave. Gutzkow.
Augiæ cloacas purgare—To cleanse the Augean 20 stables, i.e., achieve an arduous and disagreeable work. Sen.
Augusto felicior, Trajano melior—A more fortunate man than Augustus, and a more excellent than Trajan. Eutrop.
Aujourd'hui marié, demain marri—To-day married, to-morrow marred. Fr. Pr.
Aula regis—The court of the king.
Auld folk are twice bairns. Sc. Pr.
Auld Nature swears the lovely dears, / Her 25 noblest work she classes, O; / Her 'prentice han' she tried on man, / An' then she made the lasses, O. Burns.
Au nouveau tout est beau—Everything is fine that is new. Fr. Pr.
Au pis aller—At the worst. Fr.
Au plaisir fort de Dieu—By the all-powerful will of God. M.
Aura popularis—Popular favour (lit. breeze).
Aurea mediocritas—The golden mean. 30
Aurea nunc vere sunt sæcula; plurimus auro / Venit honos: auro conciliatur amor—The age we live in is the true age of gold; by gold men attain to the highest honour, and win even love itself. Ovid.
Aureo piscari hamo—To fish with a golden hook.
Au reste—For the rest. Fr.
Au revoir—Farewell till we meet again. Fr.
Auri sacra fames—The accursed lust of gold. 35 Virg.
Auro loquente nihil pollet quævis ratio—When gold speaks, no reason the least avails. Pr.
Aurora musis amica—Aurora is friendly to the Muses. Pr.
Aus dem Gebet erwächst des Geistes Sieg—It is from prayer that the spirit's victory springs. Schillerbuch.
Aus dem Kleinsten setzt / Sich Grosses zusammen zuletzt, / Und keins darf fehlen von allen, / Wenn nicht das Ganze soll fallen—Out of the smallest a great is at length composed, and none of all can fail, unless the whole is fated to break up. Rückert.
Aus dem Leben heraus sind der Wege drei 40 dir geöffnet, / Zum Ideale führt einer, der andre zum Tod—Two ways are open for thee out of life; one conducts to the ideal, the other to death. Schiller.
Aus der Jugendzeit, aus der Jugendzeit / Klingt ein Lied mir immerdar, / O wie liegt so weit, O wie liegt so weit, / Was mein einst war—Out of youth-time, out of youth-time sounds a lay of mine ever; O how so far off lies, how so far off lies, what once was mine! Rückert.
Aus der schlechtesten Hand kann Wahrheit noch mächtig wirken; / Bei dem Schönen allein macht das Gefäss den Gehalt—Truth may work mightily though in the hand of the sorriest instrument; in the case of the beautiful alone the casket constitutes the jewel (lit. the vessel makes the content). Schiller.
Aus derselben Ackerkrume / Wächst das Unkraut wie die Blume / Und das Unkraut macht sich breit—Out of the same garden-mould grows the weed as the flower, and the weed flaunts itself abroad. Bodenstedt.
A useful trade is a mine of gold. Pr.
A useless life is an early death. Goethe. 45
Aus grauser Tiefe tritt das Höhe kühn hervor; / Aus harter Hülle kämpft die Tugend sich hervor; / Der Schmerz ist die Geburt der höhern Naturen—Out of a horrible depth the height steps boldly forth; out of a hard shell virtue fights its way to the light; pain is the birth (medium) of the higher natures. Tiedge.
Aus jedem Punkt im Kreis zur Mitte geht ein Steg. / Vom fernsten Irrtum selbst zu Gott zurück ein Weg—There is a way from every point in a circle to the centre; from the farthest error there is a way back to God Himself. Rückert.
Aus Mässigkeit entspringt ein reines Glück—Out of moderation a pure happiness springs. Goethe.
Auspicium melioris ævi—The pledge of happier times. M.
Aussitôt dit, aussitôt fait—No sooner said than done. Fr.
Aus ungelegten Eiern werden spät junge Hühner—Chickens are long in coming out of unlaid eggs. Ger. Pr.
Ausus est vana contemnere—He dared to scorn vain fears.
Aut amat, aut odit mulier; nil est tertium—A 5 woman either loves or hates; there is no alternative. Pub. Syr.
Autant chemine un homme en un jour qu'un limaçon en cent ans—A man travels as far in a day as a snail in a hundred years. Fr. Pr.
Autant dépend chiche que large, et à la fin plus davantage—Niggard spends as much as generous, and in the end a good deal more. Fr. Pr.
Autant en emporte le vent—All idle talk (lit. so much the wind carries away). Fr. Pr.
Autant pèche celui qui tient le sac que celui qui met dedans—He is as guilty who holds the bag as he who puts in. Fr. Pr.
Autant vaut l'homme comme il s'estime—A 10 man is rated by others as he rates himself. Fr. Pr.
Aut bibat, aut abeat—Either drink or go.
Aut Cæsar aut nihil—Either Cæsar or nobody. M. of Cæsar Borgia.
Authority, not majority. Stahl.
Authors alone, with more than savage rage, / Unnatural war with brother authors wage. Churchill.
Authors are martyrs, witnesses to the truth, 15 or else nothing. Carlyle.
Authors may be divided into falling stars, planets, and fixed stars: the first have a momentary effect; the second, a much longer duration; and the third are unchangeable, possess their own light, and shine for all time. Schopenhauer.
Aut insanit homo, aut versus facit—The man is either mad, or he is making verses. Hor.
Aut non tentaris, aut perfice—Either don't attempt it, or go through with it. Ovid.
Auto-da-fé—An act of faith; a name applied to certain proceedings of the Inquisition connected with the burning of heretics.
[Greek: Autos epha]—He himself said it; ipse dixit. 20
Aut prodesse volunt aut delectare poetæ—Poets wish either to profit or to please. Hor.
Autrefois acquis—Acquitted before. Fr.
Aut regem aut fatuum nasci oportere—A man ought to be born either a king or a fool. Pr. in Sen.
Autre temps, autres mœurs—Other times, other fashions. Fr. Pr.
Aut vincere aut mori—Either to conquer or die. 25
Aut virtus nomen inane est, / Aut decus et pretium recte petit experiens vir—Either virtue is an empty name, or the man of enterprise justly aims at honour and reward. Hor.
Aux armes—To arms. Fr.
Aux grands maux les grands remèdes—Desperate maladies require desperate remedies. Fr. Pr.
Auxilium ab alto—Help from above. M.
Auxilium meum a Domino—My help cometh 30 from the Lord. M.
Avant propos—Prefatory matter. Fr.
Avaler des couleuvres—To put up with abuse (lit. swallow snakes). Fr.
A valiant and brave soldier seeks rather to preserve one citizen than to destroy a thousand enemies. Scipio.
Avancez—Advance. Fr.
Avarice has ruined more men than prodigality. 35 Colton.
Avarus, nisi cum moritur, nil recte facit—A miser does nothing right except when he dies. Pr.
Avec un Si on mettrait Paris dans une bouteille—With an "if" one might put Paris in a bottle. Fr. Pr.
A verbis ad verbera—From words to blows.
A verse may find him who a sermon flies, / And turn delight into a sacrifice. George Herbert.
A very excellent piece of villany. Tit. Andron., 40 ii. 3.
A very good woman may make but a paltry man. Pope.
A veste logorata poco fede vien prestata—A shabby coat finds small credit. It. Pr.
A vinculo matrimonii—From the bond or tie of marriage.
A virtuous name is the sole precious good for which queens and peasants' wives must contest together. Schiller.
Avise la fin—Consider the end. Fr. 45
Avito viret honore—He flourishes with inherited honours. M.
Avoid the evil, and it will avoid thee. Gael. Pr.
A volonté—At will. Fr.
A votre santé—To your health. Fr.
A wee bush is better than nae bield (shelter). 50 Sc. Pr.
A weel-bred dog gaes oot when he sees them preparing to kick him oot. Sc. Pr.
A well-bred man is always sociable and complaisant. Montaigne.
A well-cultivated mind is, so to say, made up of all the minds of the centuries preceding. Fontenelle.
A well-governed appetite is a great part of liberty. Sen.
A well-written life is almost as rare as a well-spent 55 one. Carlyle.
A wicked fellow is the most pious when he takes to it. He'll beat you all in piety. Johnson.
A wilful man must have his way. Pr.
A willing mind makes a light foot. Pr.
A wise man gets learning frae them that hae nane. Sc. Pr.
A wise man is never less alone than when 60 alone. Pr.
A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength. Bible.
A wise man neither suffers himself to be governed, nor attempts to govern others. La Bruyère.
A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart. Swift.
A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. Bacon.
A wise physician, skill'd our wounds to heal, / Is more than armies to the public weal. Pope.
A wise scepticism is the first attribute of a good critic. Lowell.
A wise writer does not reveal himself here and there, but everywhere. Lowell.
A witless heed (head) mak's weary feet. Sc. Pr.
A wit with dunces, and a dunce with wits. 5 Pope.
A wolf in sheep's clothing. Pr.
A woman conceals what she does not know. Pr.
A woman has two smiles that an angel might envy: the smile that accepts the lover before the words are uttered, and the smile that lights on the first-born baby, and assures it of a mother's love. Haliburton.
A woman in love is a very poor judge of character. J. G. Holland.
A woman moved is like a fountain troubled, / 10 Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty. Tam. of Sh., v. 2.
A woman's friendship borders more closely on love than a man's. Coleridge.
A woman's head is always influenced by her heart; but a man's heart is always influenced by his head. Lady Blessington.
A woman sometimes scorns what best contents her. Two Gent. of Ver., iii. 1.
A woman's whole life is a history of the affections. W. Irving.
A word and a stone let go cannot be recalled. 15 Pr.
A word from a friend is doubly enjoyable in dark days. Goethe.
A word once vulgarised can never be rehabilitated. Lowell.
A word sooner wounds than heals. Goethe.
A word spoken in season, at the right moment, is the mother of ages. Carlyle.
A word spoken in due season, how good is it? 20 Bible.
A work of real merit finds favour at last. A. B. Alcott.
A world all sincere, a believing world; the like has been; the like will again be—cannot help being. Carlyle.
A world in the hand is worth two in the bush. Emerson.
A world this in which much is to be done, and little to be known. Goethe.
A worn-out sinner is sometimes found to make 25 the best declaimer against sin. Lamb.
A worthless man will always remain worthless, and a little mind will not, by daily intercourse with great minds, become an inch greater. Goethe.
A wounded spirit who can bear? Bible.
A wound never heals so well that the scar cannot be seen. Dan. Pr.
A wreck on shore is a beacon at sea. Dut. Pr.
A wretched soul, bruised with adversity, / We 30 bid be quiet when we hear it cry; / But were we burdened with like weight of pain, / As much, or more, we should ourselves complain. Com. of Errors, ii. 1.
Ay, but to die, and go we know not where; / To lie in cold obstruction and to rot. Meas. for Meas., iii. 1.
Aye free, aff-han' your story tell, when wi' a bosom crony; / But still keep something to yoursel' / Ye scarcely tell to ony. Burns.
Aye in a hurry, and aye ahint. Sc. Pr.
Ay, every inch a king. King Lear, iv. 6.
Ay me! for aught that ever I could read, / 35 Could ever hear by tale or history, / The course of true love never did run smooth. Mid. N.'s Dream, i. 1.
Aymez loyauté—Love loyalty. M.
A young man idle, an old man needy. It. Pr.
Ay, sir, to be honest as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of two thousand. Ham., ii. 2.