Quotes by Publilius Syrus

Publilius (less correctly Publius) Syrus, a Latin writer of maxims, flourished in the 1st century BC. He was a Syrian who was brought as a slave to Italy, but by his wit and talent he won the favor of his master, who freed and educated him.

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1. A suspicious mind always looks on the black side of things.


2. Admonish thy friends in secret, praise them openly.


3. An angry man is again angry with himself when he returns to reason.


4. Count not him among your friends who will retail your privacies to the world.


5. Depend not on fortune, but on conduct.


6. Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it.


7. How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself.


8. If you refuse where you have always granted you invite to theft.


9. In a heated argument we are apt to lose sight of the truth.


10. It is folly to punish your neighbor by fire when you live next door.


11. It is more tolerable to be refused than deceived.


12. It is no profit to have learned well, if you neglect to do well.


13. Learn to see in another's calamity the ills which you should avoid.


14. Look to be treated by others as you have treated others.


15. Never promise more than you can perform.


16. Ready tears are a sign of treachery, not of grief.


17. Tis foolish to fear what you cannot avoid.


18. To-day is the pupil of yesterday.


19. We must give lengthy deliberation to what has to be decided once and for all.


20. You should not live one way in private, another in public.


21. A fair exterior is a silent recommendation.


22. A good reputation is more valuable than money.


23. A rolling stone gathers no moss.


24. Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.


25. Better be ignorant of a matter than half know it.


26. Do not turn back when you are just at the goal.


27. Every day should be passed as if it were to be our last.


28. For a good cause, wrongdoing is virtuous.


29. He doubly benefits the needy who gives quickly.


30. I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.


31. It is a bad plan that admits of no modification.


32. It is a consolation to the wretched to have companions in misery.


33. It is a very hard undertaking to seek to please everybody.


34. It is better to learn late than never.


35. It is not every question that deserves an answer.


36. It is only the ignorant who despise education.


37. It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity.


38. Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage.


39. Many receive advice, few profit by it.


40. Money alone sets all the world in motion.


41. Never find your delight in another's misfortune.


42. No man is happy who does not think himself so.


43. No one knows what he can do till he tries.


44. No one should be judge in his own case.


45. Nothing can be done at once hastily and prudently.


46. Pardon one offense, and you encourage the commission of many.


47. Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them.


48. Speech is a mirror of the soul: as a man speaks, so is he.


49. The fear of death is more to be dreaded than death itself.


50. The judge is condemned when the criminal is absolved.


51. The loss which is unknown is no loss at all.


52. There are some remedies worse than the disease.


53. To do two things at once is to do neither.


54. Treat your friend as if he might become an enemy.


55. We desire nothing so much as what we ought not to have.


56. What is left when honor is lost?


57. While we stop to think, we often miss our opportunity.


58. You should go to a pear tree for pears, not to an elm.


59. A gift in season is a double favor to the needy.


60. Hares can gambol over the body of a dead lion.


61. As men, we are all equal in the presence of death.


62. We simply rob ourselves when we make presents to the dead.


63. The end always passes judgement on what has gone before.