Latin
Quotations C
Remember to pronounce it as K

Persius Flaccus (34-62)

Caedimus, inque vicem praebimus crura sagittis
We shoot, and in turn present a target for the barbs of others
Persius, Satires 4:42
quoted by Kirsopp and Silva Lake (1934) to characterize an enthusiastic controversialist

Caelum non animum mutant
It is their sky, but not their soul, they change [who seek variety in travel]
Horace, Epistles 1/11:27
recommending contentment close to home; see at Quod petis

Caput inter nubila condit
Her head [that of Fame] is hidden in the clouds
Vergil, Aeneid 4:177
quoted by Francis Bacon to mean "the beginnings of heathen history are lost to view"

Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero
Pluck down [the fruit of] today, and put as little faith as may be in tomorrow
Horace, Carmina 1/11:2, addressed to Leuconoë
often mistranslated as "seize;" the image is of gathering fruit

Causa latet, vis est notissima
The cause is hidden; the effect is obvious
Ovid, Metamorphoses 4:287; motto of Sigma Alpha Phi fraternity
quoted in Hazlitt, On the Look of a Gentleman, as res ipse notassima

Ceteris paribus
All else being equal

Cito enim arescit lacrima
Soon indeed is dried the tear
Cicero, De Partitione Oratoria 57
". . . especially when it is shed for the misfortunes of others;" compare at Nihil

Coepisti melius quam desinis
You began better than you end
Ovid, Heroides 9:23

Rene Descartes

Cogito ergo sum
I think, therefore I am
Rene Descartes
the supposed irreducible quantum of belief

Continua messe senescit ager
By continuous tillage the field is exhausted
Ovid, Ars Amatoria 3:82

Coram populo
In the presence of the people
Horace, Ars Poetica 185

Credo quia absurdum
I believe because it is absurd
derived from a sentence in Tertullian, De Carne Christi

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Cui bono?
To whom is it good? (Who benefits from this?)
Cicero, Pro Milone 32 and others
quoting a dictum of the severe Lucius Cassius Longinus, when serving as judge in 0127

Cum grano salis
With a grain of salt [to accept a statement with doubt as to its truth]
Pliny the Elder, Historia Naturalis 23:149 has "addito salis grano"
as a prophylactic against poison, and not yet with the later meaning of the phrase

Cum odio sui coepit veritas
The first response to truth is with hatred
Tertullian, Apologeticus 7:3
a typically ironic defense of Christianity in the 3rd century

 

 To Next

16 Feb 2007 / Contact The Project / Exit to Latin Index Page