Martial Quotes
Marcus Valerius Martialis, known in English as Martial, was a Latin poet best known for his twelve books of Epigrams.
(ca. 38 - ca. 104)
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A face that cannot smile is never good.
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A good man doubles the length of his existence; to have lived so as to look back with pleasure on our past life is to liye twice.
[Goodness]
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Be content with what you are, and wish not change; nor dread your last day, nor long for it.
[Maturity]
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Be satisfied, and pleased with what thou art, Act cheerfully and well thy allotted part; Enjoy the present hour, be thankful for the past, And neither fear, nor wish, the approaches of the last.
[Forgiveness]
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Do not pluck the beard of a dead lion.
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Each day provides its own gifts.
[One Day]
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Fortune gives too much to many, but to none enough.
[Fortune]
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If fame is only to come after death, I am in no hurry for it.
[Fame]
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It is to live twice, when we can enjoy the recollections of our former life.
[Past]
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Lawyers are men who hire out their words and anger.
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Life is not to live, but to be well.
[Health]
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Of no day can the retrospect cause pain to a good man, nor has one passed away which he is unwilling to remember: the period of his life seems prolonged by his good acts; and we may be said to live twice, when we can reflect with pleasure on the days that are gone.
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Tomorrow I will live, the fool does say; today itself's too late, the wise lived yesterday.
[The Present]
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When all the blandishments of life are gone the coward sneaks to death; the brave lives on.
[Suicide]
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While you cannot resolve what you are, at last you will be nothing.
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Why do strong arms fatigue themselves with silly dumb bells? Trenching a vineyard is worthier exercise for men.
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You do not publish your own verses, Laelius; you criticise mine. Pray cease to criticise mine, or else publish your own.
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