Juvenal Quotes & Sayings

A rare bird on this earth, like nothing so much as a black swan. — Juvenal

Must this with farce and folly rack my
head unpunish'd ? that with sing-song,
Whine me dead? — Juvenal

Money lost is bewailed with unfeigned tears. — Juvenal

The pupil will eclipse his tutor, I warrant. — Juvenal

Many have an irresistible itch for writing. — Juvenal

There are many things which may not be uttered by men in threadbare coats. — Juvenal

The face, not the woman is the attraction. — Juvenal

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

Few tyrants go down to the infernal regions by a natural death. — Juvenal

Wisdom is the conqueror of fortune.
[Lat., Victrix fortunae sapientia.] — Juvenal

It is a wretched thing to rest upon the fame of others, lest, the supporting pillar being removed, the superstructure should collapse in ruin. — Juvenal

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

To keep up as good a cuisine as your father. — Juvenal

O Poverty, thy thousand ills combined Sink not so deep into the generous mind, As the contempt and laughter of mankind. — Juvenal

We are too quick to imitate depraved examples. — Juvenal

Ut who will guard the guardians? — Juvenal

The care of a large estate is an unpleasant thing. — Juvenal

It is difficult not to write satire. — Juvenal

Autumn is the harvest of greedy death. — Juvenal

No one ever became extremely wicked suddenly. — Juvenal

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

The same dish cooked over and over again wears out the irksome life of the teacher. — Juvenal

There is never a lawsuit but a woman is at the bottom of it. — Juvenal

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

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

Those who desire to become rich, desire it at once. — Juvenal

When a man's life is at stake no delay is too long. — Juvenal

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

Be, as many now are, luxurious to yourself, parsimonious to your friends.
[Lat., Esto, ut nunc multi, dives tibi pauper amicis.] — Juvenal

Dare to do something worth of exile and prison if you mean to be anybody. — Juvenal

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

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

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? - Who will watch the watchers? — Juvenal

Those things please more, which are more expensive. — Juvenal

Integrity is praised, and starves. — Juvenal

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

The examples of vice at home corrupt us more quickly and easily than others, since they steal into our minds under the highest authority. — Juvenal

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

The venal herd.
[Lat., Venale pecus.] — Juvenal

The tongue is the worst part of a bad servant. — Juvenal

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

Do not pluck the beard of a dead lion.
[Lat., Noli
Barbam vellere mortuo leoni.] — Juvenal

Peace visits not the guilty mind. — Juvenal

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

No man ever became very wicked all at once. — Juvenal

To lay down one's life for the truth. — Juvenal

Seek not to shine by borrow'd lights alone. — Juvenal

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

The Sicilian tyrants never devised a greater punishment than envy. — Juvenal

There will he nothing more that posterity can add to our immoral habits; our descendants must have the same desires and act the same follies as their sires. Every vice has reached its zenith. — Juvenal

Every great house is full of haughty servants. — Juvenal

Seldom do people discern eloquence under a threadbare cloak — Juvenal

The love of pelf increases with the pelf.
[Lat., Crescit amor nummi quantum ipsa pecunia crescit.] — Juvenal

Dare to do things worthy of imprisonment if you mean to be of consequence. — Juvenal

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

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

Censure pardons the ravens but rebukes the doves. [The innocent are punished and the wicked escape.] — Juvenal

He never sought to stem the current. [Of a statesman who accommodates his views to public opinion.] — Juvenal

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

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

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

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

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

Whatever is committed from a bad example, is displeasing even to its author. — Juvenal

When the mischief is done the door is shut. — Juvenal

Nature and wisdom always say the same. — Juvenal

Your prayer must be for a healthy mind in a sound body. Ask for a brave soul that has no fear of death, deems length of life the least of nature's gifts and is able to bear any kind of sufferings, knows neither wrath nor desire and believes the woes and hard labors of Hercules better than the loves and feasts and downy cushions of Sardanapalus. Reveal what you are able to give yourself; the only path to a life of tranquility lies through virtue. — Juvenal

He who meditates a crime secretly within himself has all the guilt of the act. — Juvenal

Honesty's praised, then left to freeze. — Juvenal

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

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

Every crime will bring remorse to the man who committed it — Juvenal

The arrows are from her dowry. — Juvenal

Rarus enim ferme sensus communis in illa Fortuna."
["Generally common sense is rare in that (higher) rank."] — Juvenal

No god is absent where prudence dwells. — Juvenal

Of what avail are pedigrees? — Juvenal

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Who supervises the supervisors themselves? — Juvenal

Difficile est satiram non scribere
[It is hard not to write a satire] — Juvenal

Nature confesses that she has bestowed on the human race hearts of softest mould, in that she has given us tears. — Juvenal

Vice can deceive under the guise and shadow of virtue. — Juvenal

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

One gets a cross for his crime, the other a crown. — Juvenal

Led on by impulse, and blind and ungovernable desires. — Juvenal

Would you not like to fill up a whole note-book at the street crossings when you see a forger borne along upon the necks of six porters, and exposed to view on this side and on that in his almost naked litter, and reminding you of the lounging Maecenas: one who by help of a scrap of paper and a moistened seal has converted himself into a fine and wealthy gentleman? — Juvenal

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

Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt — Juvenal

A pauper traveller will sing before a beggar. — Juvenal

A woman is most merciless when shame goads on her hate — Juvenal

It is to be prayed that the mind be sound in a sound body.
Ask for a brave soul that lacks the fear of death,
which places the length of life last among nature's blessings,
which is able to bear whatever kind of sufferings,
does not know anger, lusts for nothing and believes
the hardships and savage labors of Hercules better than
the satisfactions, feasts, and feather bed of an Eastern king.
I will reveal what you are able to give yourself;
For certain, the one footpath of a tranquil life lies through virtue. — Juvenal

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

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

Besides what endless brawls by wives are bred,
The curtain lecture makes a mournful bed. — Juvenal

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

The sweetest pleasures soonest cloy, And its best flavour temperance gives to joy. — Juvenal

Men who only live to eat. — Juvenal

One man meets an infamous punishment for that crime which confers a diadem on others. — Juvenal

The traveler without money will sing before the robber.
[Lat., Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator.] — Juvenal

Conscience, the executioner, shaking her secret scourge. — Juvenal

All things may be bought in Rome with money. — Juvenal

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