I don’t study Latin. I have friends who do, but I’ve always had an affinity for Latin. Thinking in another language, even a dead one, opens the mind to a whole different mindset. Here are my fifty favorite Latin mottos, quotes, and phrases.
- Absum! – I’m outta here!
- Ad astra per aspera – To the stars through difficulty
- Ad fundum – To the bottom / To the end (said during a generic toast, like bottoms up!)
- ad infinitum: to infinity, without limit
- Ad vitam paramus – We are preparing for life
- Alis volat propriis: he flies by his own wings
- Amicitiae nostrae memoriam spero sempiternam fore – I hope that the memory of our friendship will be everlasting. (Cicero)
- Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur – A true friend is discerned during an uncertain matter
- Amor est vitae essentia – Love is the essence of life. (Robert B. Mackay)
- Amor vincit omnia – Love conquers all. (Virgil)
- Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus! – Let’s all wear mood rings!
- Ars gratia artis – Art for art’s sake. (motto of MGM)
Ars longa, vita brevis – Art (work) is long, but life is short - Aude sapere – Dare to know
- Aut insanit homo, aut versus facit: The fellow is either mad or he is composing verses
- Avarus animus nullo satiatur lucro – A greedy mind is satisfied with no (amount of) gain
- Bene legere saecla vincere – To read well is to master the ages. (Professor Isaac Flagg)
- Bene qui latuit, bene vixit – One who lives well, lives unnoticed. (Ovid)
- Bona fide – In good faith. i. e. well-intentioned, fairly
- Bona fides (noun) – Honest intention
- Bona fortuna – Good luck!
- Bovina Sancta! – Holy cow!
- Brevior saltare cum deformibus mulieribus est vita – Life is too short to dance with ugly women
Brevior saltare cum deformibus viris est vita – Life is too short to dance with ugly men - Carpe diem: seize the day
- Cura ut valeas – Take care
- cum grano salis: with a grain of salt
- Dominus providebit: the Lord will provide
- Dum spiro spero: while I breath, I hope
- errare humanum est: to err is human
- ex animo: from the heart
- Facilis descensus Averno: Easy is the descent to Avernus, i.e., the Lower World
- facta, non verba: deeds, not words
- Fide, non armis: by faith, not arms
- Helluo librorum: glutton for books (bookworm)
- Homo proponit, sed Deus disponit: Man proposes, God disposes
- Ilium fuit: Ilium (Troy) no longer exists; applied to anything that is past and gone
- in libris libertas: in books [there is] freedom (L.A. Public Library)
- Memento mori: Remember to die (whispered into the ear of a general during a triumphal procession)
- Mens regnum bona possidet: An honest heart is a kingdom in itself (Seneca)
- mens sana in corpore sano: a healthy mind in a healthy body
- multum in parvo: much in little
- ne plus ultra: no more beyond, i.e., nothing better
- nosce te ipsum: know thyself
- non sibi sed suis: not for one’s self but for one’s own
- nunc pro tunc: now as of then
- Pax vobiscum!: peace be with you
- Poeta nascitur, non fit: the poet is born, no made
- Sub sole nihil novi est: there is nothing new under the sun
- sursum corda: [lift] up [your] hearts
- Timendi causa est nescire: Ignorance is the cause of fear (Seneca)
- Veni, vidi, vici: I came, I saw, I conquered (said by Caesar after Zela)
