Latin Quotes about Life

The way we go in life follows in the footsteps of those who came before us. “Via trita, via tuta,” the old Roman adage asserts, “The beaten path is the safe path.”

There is a sense of comfort and assurance in knowing that the path we choose for ourselves is one chosen before us by many others and if we look to their guidance, left for us through what they had said, about life, we will not be lead in unfamiliar paths.

A person's life goes on ever watchful of their connection to their predecessors, but also of what guiding markers they will leave for their descendants.

Beyond being bright and amusing, this conceptual cast of old Latin proverbial wisdom about life serves to teach children and remind adults of the way they might want to go in life.

"In school we learn not the lessons of life, but of school."
                                                                    (Seneca)

1. cujus sit vita indecoris mortem fugere turpem haut convenit
   
   one whose life has been disgraceful is not entitled to escape a disgraceful death
   (Accius)
2. an quisquam est alius liber, nisi ducere vitam cui licet, ut voluit?
   
   is any man free except the one who can pass his life as he pleases?
   (Persius)
3. beatus enim nemo dici potest extra veritatem projectus
   
   no one can be called happy who is living a life of falsehood
   (Seneca)
4. exigua pars est vitæ quam nos vivimus
   
   the part of life that we really live is short
   (Seneca)
5. firmum in vita nihil
   
   nothing in life is permanent
6. honesta mors turpi vita potior
   
   an honorable death is better than a dishonorable life
   (Tacitus)
7. humanius est deridere vitam quam deplorare
   
   it is better for a man to laugh at life than to lament over it
   (Seneca)
8. id arbitror adprime in vita esse utile, ne quid nimis
   
   this I consider to be a valuable principle in life, not to do anything in excess
   (Terence)
9. impensa monumenti supervacua est; memoria nostra durabit si vita meruimus
   
   a monument is an unnecessary expense; our memory will endure if we have earned it by our life
   (Pliny the Younger)
10. jucunda oblivia vitæ
    
    it is pleasant to forget the calamities of life
11. miseranda vita, qui se metui, quam amari malunt
    
    pitiable is the life of those who prefer being feared to being loved
    (Cornelius Nepos)
12. natura vero nihil hominibus brevitate vitæ præstitit melius
    
    nature has granted man no better gift than the brevity of life
    (Pliny the Elder)
13. nemo tam pauper vivit quam natus est
    
    no one is so poor in life as he was at birth
    (Seneca)
14. nihil scire est vita jucundissima
    
    to know nothing at all is the happiest life
15. nil sine magno vita labore debit mortalibus
    
    life has given nothing great to mortals without labor
    (Horace)
16. non est vivere, sed valere, vita (est)
    
    life is not mere living but the enjoyment of health
    (Martial)
17. non propter vitam faciunt patrimonia quidam, sed vitio cæci propter patrimonia vivunt
    
    some men do not get estates for the purpose of enjoying life, but, blinded by error, live only for their estates
    (Juvenal)
18. non vitæ, sed scholæ discimus
    
    in school, we learn not the lessons of life, but of school
    (Seneca)
19. omne ævum curæ cunctis sua displicet ætas
    
    every age has its own care, each one thinks his own time of life is disagreeable
    (Ausonius)
20. propra vivere et singulos dies singulas vitas puta
    
    make haste to live, and consider each day a life
    (Seneca)
21. quid est enim novi, hominem mori, cujus tota vita nihil aliud quam ad mortem iter est?
    
    what new thing is it then for a man to die, whose whole life is nothing else but a journey to death?
    (Seneca)
22. quid tam ridiculum quam appetere mortem, cum vitam tibi inquietam feceris metu mortis?
    
    what can be so ridiculous as to seek for death, when it is merely the fear of death that makes your life so restless?
    (Seneca)
23. quoniam diu vixesse denegatur, aliquid faciamus quo possimus ostendere nos vixisse
    
    as length of life is denied to us, we should at least do something to show that we have lived
    (Cicero)
24. summum crede nefas animam præferre pudori, et propter vitam vivendi perdere causas
    
    count it the greatest sin to prefer your existence to your honor, and for the sake of life to lose every reason for living
    (Juvenal)
25. vita cedat, uti conviva satur
    
    let him take leave of life, as a guest satisfied with his entertainment
    (Horace)
26. vitaque mancipio, nulli datur, omnibus usu
    
    and life is given to none to possess fully, but for all to use
    (Lucretius)
27. vota vita mea
    
    my life is devoted
28. ego consuetudinem sermonis vocabo consensum eruditorum; sicut vivendi, consensum bonorum
    
    I consider as the rule of language the style of the learned; as the rule of life the manners of the good
    (Quintilian)
29. ex vita discedo, tanquam ex hospitio, non tanquam ex domo
    
    I depart from life as from an inn, not as from a home
    (Cicero)
30. is mihi demum vivere et frui anima videtur, qui aliquo negotio intentus, præclari facinoris aut artis bonæ famam quærit
    
    he alone appears to me to live and to enjoy life, who, being engaged in some business, seeks reputation by some famous action, or some useful art
    (Sallust)
31. non est, crede mihi, sapientis dicere “vivam”; sera nimis vita est crastina; vive hodie
    
    believe me, the wise do not say “I shall live”; life tomorrow will be too late; live today
    (Martial)
32. senex cum extemplo est, jam nec sentit, nec sapit; ajunt solere eum rursum repuerascere
    
    when the elderly man reaches the last stage of life, without senses or mentality, they say that he has grown a child again
    (Plautus)
33. serpentum major concordia; parcit cognatis maculis similis fera. Quando leoni fortior eripuit vitam leo?
    
    there is greater agreement among serpents than among men; a wild beast of a like kind spares kindred spots. When did a stronger lion deprive another of life?
    (Juvenal)
    

For more quotes about / metaphors for Life, see my hub, Amusing Quotes about Life.

For Latin love quotes, read my hub, Latin Quotes about Love.