Plautus
Plautus (c. 254 BC - 184 BC), full name Titus Maccius Plautus, was a Roman comic poet and playwright, born in Umbria, came to Rome when young, and ultimately became a famous playwright, as is evident from his mastery of the Latin language and his knowledge of Greek. He began to write plays for the stage at 30, shortly before the outbreak of the second Punic War, and continued to do so for 40 years. He wrote about 130 comedies, but only 20 have survived, the plots mostly borrowed from Greek models. They were much esteemed by his contemporaries. They have also supplied material for dramatic treatment in modern times.Plautus's epitaph read:
" Since Plautus is dead, Comedy mourns,
The stage is deserted; then Laughter, Jest and Wit,
And all Melody's countless numbers wept together."
- translated
Wisdom & Quotes
- Manners go on deteriorating.
- Mercator
- I seek the utmost pleasure and the least pain.
- Captivi
- I know nothing swifter in life than the voice of rumour.
- fragment
- Good merchandise, even when hidden, soon finds buyers.
- Poenulus
- Valour’s the best reward ; ‘tis valour that surpasses all things else : our liberty, our safety, life, estate, our parents, children, country, are by this preserved, protected : valour everything comprises in itself ; and every good awaits the man who is possess’d of valour.
- Amphitryon
- He who seeks profit must first make an expenditure.
- Asinaria (The Donkey Man)
- Man is no man, but a wolf, to a stranger.
- Asinaria (The Donkey Man)
- Practice yourself what you preach.
- Asinaria (The Donkey Man)
- If you are but content, you have enough to live upon with comfort.
- Aulularia (The Pot of Gold)
- Man proposes, God disposes.
- Bacchides (The Bacchises)
- For I regard that man as lost, who has lost his sense of shame.
- Bacchides (The Bacchises)
- Our best support and succor in distress is fortitude of mind.
- Captivi (The Prisoners)
- There are times when loss should be preferr’d to gain.
- Captivi (The Prisoners)
- He who would eat the kernel, must crack the shell.
- Curculio (The Weevil)
- No blessing lasts forever.
- Curculio (The Weevil)
- No guest is so welcome in a friend's house that he will not become a nuisance after three days.
- Miles Gloriosus (The Swaggering Soldier)
- Things we hope not for oftener come to pass than things we wish for.
- Mostellaria (The Haunted House)
- Nothing so wretched as a guilty conscience.
- Mostellaria (The Haunted House)
- Each man reaps on his own farm.
- Mostellaria (The Haunted House)
- It is better to learn from the mistakes of others than that others should learn from you.
- Persa (The Persian)
- A word to the wise is enough.
- Persa (The Persian)
- Courage in danger is half the battle.
- Pseudolus
- For true it is, good oft befalls us when we least expect it. And true it is, that when we trust in hope, we’re often disappointed.
- Rudens (The Rope)
- Patience is the best remedy for every trouble.
- Rudens (The Rope)
- According as men thrive, their friends are true; if their affairs go to wreck, their friends sink with them. Fortune finds friends.
- Stichus (The Parasite Rebuffed)
- Not by age but by capacity is wisdom acquired.
- Trinummus (The Three Coins)
- You cannot eat your cake and have it too, unless you think your money is immortal. The fool too late, his substance eaten up, reckons the cost.
- Trinummus (The Three Coins)
- That expression, "He means well," is useless unless he does well.
- Trinummus (The Three Coins)
- One eyewitness weighs more than ten hearsays. Seeing is believing, all the world over.
- Truculentus
- Consider the little mouse, how sagacious an animal it is which never entrusts its life to one hole only.
- Truculentus
Patanjali the grammarian