Wisdom of the Romans

 "Cuiusvis hominis est errare; nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare."
Any man can make a mistake; only a fool keeps making the same one.

"Fures privatorum in nervo atque in compedibus aetatem agunt; fures publici in auro atque in purpura. Pecunia non satiat avaritiam, sed inritat."
Thieves who steal from private citizens spend their lives in bonds and chains; thieves who steal from public funds spend theirs in gold and purple. Money doesn't satisfy greed, it stimulates it.

"Homines libernter id quod volunt credunt."
Men easily believe what they want to.

"Mendacem memorem esse oportere."
A liar better have a good memory.

"Satis putant vitio carere; etiam virtutibus carent."
They boasted that they had no faults; they also had no virtues.

Brevis ipsa vita est sed malis fit longior.
Syrus, Maxims

Life is short, but troubles make it longer.

Cito enim arescit lacrima, praesertim in alienis malis.
Cicero, De Partitione Oratoria

Tears for somebody else's troubles dry quickly.

Cui plus licet quam par est plus vult quam licet.
Syrus (quoted in Macrobius, Saturnalia

A fellow who gets more than he deserves wants more than he gets.

Da mihi castitatem et continentiam, sed noli modo.
St. Augustine, Confessiones
Make me chaste and pure, but not yet.

Esse quam videri bonus malebat.
Sallust, Bellum Catilinae
He preferred being a good man to looking like one.

Fama malum quo non aliud velocius ullum.
Virgil, Aeneid
Nothing moves faster than gossip.

Fortuna vitrea est; tum cum splendet frangitur.
Syrus, Maxims
Fortune is glass; just when it gleams brightest it shatters.

Homines libenter id quod volunt credunt.
Caesar, De Bello Gallico
Men easily believe what they want to.

Late ignis lucere, ut nihil urat, non potest.
Syrus, Maxims
A fire can't throw a great light without burning something.

Leges bonae ex malis moribus procreantur.
Macrobius, Saturnalia
Good laws are produced by bad morals.

Liber, caris eris Romae, donec te deserat aetas; aut tineas pasces taciturnus inertes, 
aut pueros elementa docens manes.
Horace, Epistulae

Maximum in eo vitium est, qui non melioribus vult placere, sed pluribus.
Seneca the Younger (attributed), Proverbs
His greatest fault was his desire not to please the best people, but to please the most people.

Neque cuiguam mortalium iniuriae suae parvae videntur.
Sallust, Bellum Catilinae, Caesar's Speech.
Nobody underestimates his own troubles.

Nil magis amat cupiditas, quam guod non licet.
Syrus, Maxims
Lust wants whatever it can't have.

Non oris causa modo hominess aequom fuit sibi habere speculum, sed qui perspicere possent cor sapientiae.
Plautus, Epidicus
A man needs a good mirror to scrutinize his heart as well as his face.

Omne ignotum pro magnifico est.
Tacitus, De Vita et Moribus Iulii Agricolae
Anything we haven't seen before is marvellous.

Pauci dinoscere possunt vera bona atque illis multum diversa; nocitura toga, nocitura petuntur militia.
Juvenal, Satirae
Few people can distinguish between true good things and their opposites; 
in city or war camp, we seek what will be our ruin.

Pecunia non satiat avaritiam, sed inritat.
Syrus, Maxims
Money doesn't satisfy greed; it stimulates it.

Probitas laudatur et alget.
Juvenal, Satirae
Honesty is praised while it starves.

Quidquid praecipies, esto brevis.
Horace, Ars Poetica,3
Whatever you want to teach, be brief.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Juvenal, Satirae
Who will watch the watchmen?

Satis putant vitio carere; etiam virtutibus carent.
Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria
They boasted that they had no faults; they also had no virtues.

Taciturnitas stulto homini pro sapientia est.
Syrus, Maxims
The silence of a stupid man looks like wisdom.