“terra, gravis fueris: non fuit illa tibi earth, lie lightly on her: she lay lightly on you”
Source: Epigrammata Selecta: Select Epigrams From Martial: Grammar School Classics
Filter quotes by topic
Famous Martial Quotes
Source: The Epigrams of Martial
“Every bird that upwards swings Bears the Cross upon its wings.”
Source: The Epigrams of Martial: Translated Into English Prose. Each Accompanied by One Or More Verse Translations, from the Works of English Poets, and Various Other Sources
Source: The Epigrams of Martial
Source: The Epigrams of Martial
Source: The Epigrams of Martial
“A cook should double one sense have: for he Should taster for himself and master be.”
Source: The Epigrams of Martial: Translated Into English Prose. Each Accompanied by One Or More Verse Translations, from the Works of English Poets, and Various Other Sources
Source: The Epigrams of Martial: Translated Into English Prose. Each Accompanied by One Or More Verse Translations, from the Works of English Poets, and Various Other Sources
Source: The Epigrams of Martial: Translated Into English Prose. Each Accompanied by One Or More Verse Translations, from the Works of English Poets, and Various Other Sources
“However great the dish that holds the turbot, the turbot is still greater than the dish.”
Source: The Epigrams of Martial
Source: The Epigrams of Martial
Source: The Epigrams of Martial
“You crystal break, for fear of breaking it: Careless and careful hands like faults commit.”
“Whoever makes great presents, expects great presents in return.”
“It is as good as second life to be able to look back upon our past life with pleasure”
“The swifter hand doth the swift words outrun: Before the tongue hath spoke the hand hath done.”
Source: The Epigrams of Martial
“The swan murmurs sweet strains with a flattering tongue, itself the singer of its own dirge.”
“I'm what I seem; not any dyer gave, But nature dyed this colour that I have.”
Source: The Epigrams of Martial
“It is to live twice when we can enjoy the recollections of our former life.”
Source: The Epigrams of Martial
Source: The Epigrams of Martial
“To have nothing is not poverty. [Lat., Non est paupertas, Nestor, habere nihil.]”
Source: The Epigrams of Martial
“You should not fear, nor yet should you wish for your last day.”
Source: The Epigrams of Martial
Source: The Epigrams of Martial
“No amount of misfortune will satisfy the man who is not satisfied with reading a hundred epigrams.”
Source: The Epigrams of Martial
“If fame comes after death, I'm in no hurry for it. [Lat., Si post fata venit gloria non propero.]”
“From no place can you exclude the fates. [Lat., Nullo fata loco possis excludere.]”
“Can the fish love the fisherman? [Lat., Piscatorem piscis amare potest?]”
Source: The Epigrams of Martial