LATIN QUOTES AND EXPRESSIONS

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Many Latin expressions are used in books and in everyday English speech, and you will certainly find most those phrases listed and translated on my site. However, the existing body of Latin literature, both Classical and Medieval is extremely vast. There are many undiscovered gems of wit and wisdom, so I encourage you to study Latin :) The source for a quote is sometimes indcated, but one must remember that Latin quotations are often used as if they were anonymous maxims of universal wisdom. Unlike the collections of quotes that you will find on some other websites, these lines have been actually looked at more than once by someone who knows Latin. I am sure, however, that some typos have not been fixed, so do not assume that anything you find here is safe and good enough to be tattooed on your person! Always ask a Latinist before using a Latin quote for any permanent purpose.

This site also hosts a plethora of imporant resources about Latin, as well as some other languages. Most notably, there a list of legal Latin maxims. Elsewhere on this site there are Latin phrases used in medicine, heraldry, jewelry engravings, sundials and Latin love poems. There is even a motto generator that lets you create Latin phrases without knowing Latin!

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Fabas indulcet fames - Hunger sweetens the beans, or hunger makes everything taste good!

Faber est suae quisque fortunae - Every man is the artisan of his own fortune. (Appius Claudius Caecus)

Faber quisque fortunae suae - Each man (is) the maker of his own fortune

Facilis descensus averno - The descent to Avernus (Hell) it's easy to fall, hard to rise

Facilius est multa facere quam diu - It is easier to do many things than to do one for a long time. (Quintilianus)

Facilius per partes in cognitionem totius adducimur - We are more easily led part by part to an understanding of the whole. (Seneca)

Facito aliquid operis, ut te semper diabolus inveniat occupatum - Always do something, so that the devil always finds you occupied. (St. Jerome)

Facta, non verba - Deeds, not words. (Actions speak louder than words)

Factum est - It is done

Fallaces sunt rerum species - The appearances of things are deceptive. (Seneca)

Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus - False in one thing, false in all

Fama crescit eundo - The rumour grows as it goes. (Vergil)

Fama nihil est celerius - Nothing is swifter than rumor

Fama semper vivat - May his/her fame last forever

Fama volat - The rumour has wings. (Vergil)

Fames est optimus coquus - Hunger is the best cook

Fas est et ab hoste doceri - It's proper to learn even from an enemy. (Ovid)

Favete linguis - To keep a (religious) silence. (Horace)

Fax mentis incedium gloriae - The passion of glory is the torch of the mind

Fecit (fec.) - Made by

Felis qui nihil debet - Happy [is] he who owes nothing

Felix culpa - Happy fault

Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas - Happy is he who has been able to learn the causes of things. (Vergil)

Felo de se - Suicide

Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt - Men readily believe what they want to believe. (Caesar)

Festina lente - Make haste slowly

Fiat justitia (et ruat caelum) - "Let justice be done. (though the heavens fall)"""

Fiat lux - Let there be light

Fiat voluntas tua - Let Thy will [be done] (Biblical)

Fiat - Let it be done

Fide, non armis - By faith, not arms

Fidei defensor - Defender of the faith

Fides punica - Treachery. (Livy)

Fides quaerens intellectum - Faith seeking understanding

Fidus Achates - Faithful Achates (friend)

Filioque - And from the son (a concept of Catholic Theology)

Finem respice - Look to the end [before setting forth]

Finis coronat opus - The ending crowns the work. (Ovid)

Finis - The end

Flagrante delicto - Caught red-handed, in the very act of a crime

Flamma fumo est proxima - Flame follows smoke. (there is no smoke without fire) (Plautus)

Floreat regina regina - May it flourish. (motto of the City of Regina, Saskatchewan Canada)

Floruit - Flourished

Fluctuat nec mergitur - It is tossed by the waves but it does not sink

Fons et origo - The source and origin

Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit - Perhaps someday we will look back upon these things with joy

Forsan miseros meliora sequentur - For those in misery perhaps better things will follow. (Virgil)

Fortes et liber - Strong and free. (motto of Alberta)

Fortes fortuna adiuvat - Fortune favors the brave. (Terence)

Fortiter fideliter forsan feliciter - Bravely, faithfully, perhaps successfully

Fortiter in re, suaviter in modo - Resolutely in action, gently in manner. (To do unhesitatingly what must be done but accomplishing it as inoffensively as possible)

Fortitudine vincimus - By endurance we conquer

Fortius quo fidelius - Strength through loyalty

Fortuna amicos parat, inopia amicos probat - The fortune is preparing friends, the abundance is testing them

Fortuna caeca est - Fortune is blind. (Cicero)

Fortuna vitrea est; tum cum splendet frangitur - Fortune is glass; just when it gleams brightest it shatters

Frangar non flectar - I am broken, I am not deflected

Frater, ave atque vale - Brother, hello and good-bye. (Catullus)

Fronti nulla fides - No reliance can be placed on appearance. (don't judge a book by its cover)

Frustra laborant quotquot se calculationibus fatigant pro inventione quadraturae circuli - Futile is the labor of those who fatigue themselves with calculations to square the circle. (Michael Stifel, 1544)

Fugit hora - The hour (i.e. time) flies

Fugit inreparabile tempus - Irretrievable time flies. (Virgil)

Functus officio - Having discharged his duty and thus ceased to have any authority over a matter