39 Publilius Syrus Quotes

Publilius Syrus was a Roman author/writer well known for his sententiae.

Publilius was an Antioch-based Syrian who was taken to Roman Italy. Syrus arrived in Rome along with the astronomer Manilius and the grammarian Staberius Eros.

Syrus gained the favor of his master with his wit and talent, who educated him and granted him manumission. His mimes were a big hit in the Italian provinces and during Julius Caesar's games in 46 B.C.

As an improviser, Publilius was very famous. He earned the award in a tournament in which Syrus defeated all his competitors, including the legendary Decimus Laberius, from Julius Caesar himself.

Only a few sayings from his plays, which were admired by the Romans, have been passed down to us through the years. The sayings were intended for a later age; and are now his primary performance. Having lost his former grandeur, he conquered another, and the once famed dramatist has become posterity's great gnomic poet.

Syrus, like Terence and Phaedrus, spent his early years in slavery; however, because there is no proof that he was born a slave, it is assumed that he became one when Pompey converted Syria, his native country, to a Roman province (year of Rome 690; B.C.

64).

He was taken to Rome when he was around twelve years old by an inferior commander of the army named Domitius, according to legend, and was given the name Syrus in line with the custom of slaves taking a name derived from his region.

Publilius Syrus Quotes On Knowledge

All that survives of Publilius Syrus's corpus is a collection of sententiae, a compilation of iambic and trochaic poetry moral maxims. Because it was known to Aulus Gellius in the second century A.D., this collection must have been produced relatively early.

Each maxim is made up of a single stanza, and the verses are sorted alphabetically by their first letters. Over time, the collection was supplemented by words from other writers, particularly Seneca the Younger's apocryphal writings.

(Here are a few Publilius Syrus quotes for you to read. These are some of his famed quotes which survived the test of time.)

"There are some remedies worse than the disease."

"A rolling stone can gather no moss."

"Valor grows by daring, fear by holding back."

"From the errors of others, a wise man corrects his own."

"A wise man will be master of his mind, a fool will be its slave."

"Fate is not satisfied with inflicting one calamity."

"It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity."

"Bitter for a free man is the bondage of debt."

"The bow too tensely strung is easily broken. "

Publilius Syrus Quotes On Desire

There are around 700 authentic verses from Publilius. They contain numerous pithy sayings, like the infamous "iudex damnatur ubi nocens absolvitur", which the Edinburgh Review adopted as its motto.

Because the collections are fragmented, many of the sayings are inconsistent or make little sense. The original characters and plays for which they were written have perished. Only two of his plays have survived: 'Putatores' (the Pruners) and a piece renamed 'Murmidon'.

"Whom Fortune wishes to destroy, she first makes mad."

"The poor man is ruined as soon as he begins to ape the rich."

"Fortune is like glass: the brighter the glitter, the more easily broken."

"He who can get more than belongs to him is apt to accommodate his desires to his opportunity."

"A hasty verdict betrays a desire to find a crime committed."

"The poor lack much, the greedy everything."

"The sweetest pleasure arises from difficulties overcome."
-'The Moral Sayings Of Publius Syrus: A Roman Slave', English Translation, 1856.

Publilius Syrus Quotes On Kindness

As of 1911, Eduard Wölfflin (1869), Wilhelm Meyer (1880), and A. Spengel (1874)'s sentences were among the best texts, each with a complete index verborum and critical apparatus. J. Wight Duff and Arnold M. Duff translated his writings into English in 1934.

"An angry man is, again, angry with himself when he returns to reason."

"Fear, and not kindness, restrains the vicious."

"Kindness should be received in the spirit that prompted it."

"The happy man is not he who seems thus to others, but who seems thus to himself."

"To love deeply in one direction makes us more loving in all others."

"Kindness of heart is always happy."

"Avarice is kind to no one and most cruel toward itself."

"God looks at the clean hands, not the full ones."

Publilius Syrus Quotes On Ruling

Throughout his life, Seneca The Younger worked hard to cultivate a sententious style like Publilius. In his 'Moral Epistles to Lucilius', he mentions Syrus in the eighth moral letter, 'On the Philosopher's Seclusion', and the 94th, 'On the Value of Advice'.

In the opening scene of the fifth act of William Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing', Don Pedro says proverbially, "If she did not detest him fatally, she would love him dearly".

According to W.L. Rushton, this is drawn from John Lyly's 'Euphues'. If Shakespeare did not get this from Lyly, then both he and Lyly borrowed it from Publilius.

"The fear of death is more to be feared than death itself."

-'The Moral Sayings Of Publius Syrus: A Roman Slave'.

"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm."

“I should not be pleased to be king if I must therefore be pleased to be cruel.” - 'The Moral Sayings Of Publius Syrus: A Roman Slave'.

"It is a bitter dose to be taught obedience after you have learned to rule."

“He who imposes his own talk on the circle does not converse; he plays the master.” - 'The Moral Sayings Of Publius Syrus: A Roman Slave'.

"Money alone sets all the world in motion."

“The wise man guards against future evils as if they were present.” - 'The Moral Sayings Of Publius Syrus: A Roman Slave'.

Publilius Syrus Quotes On Friendship

The Muddy Waters song 'Rollin' Stone' (1950) was titled from Publilius' proverb, “A rolling stone gathers no moss,” (Latin: Saxum volutum non obducitur musco). The phrase is also translated as "Musco lapis volutus haud obducitur" and "Musco lapis volutus haud obvolvitur" in various circumstances. Muddy Waters' song inspired the name of the British rock band The Rolling Stones.

"Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them."

“Understand your friend's character, but do not hate it.” - 'The Moral Sayings Of Publius Syrus: A Roman Slave'.

"Admonish your friends secretly, but praise them openly."

“To yield to our friends is not to be overcome but to conquer.” - 'The Moral Sayings Of Publius Syrus: A Roman Slave'.

“You do well to consider your friend's error your own.” - 'The Moral Sayings Of Publius Syrus: A Roman Slave'.

“He who fears his friend teaches his friend to fear him.” - 'The Moral Sayings Of Publius Syrus: A Roman Slave'.

“When you forgive an enemy, you gain many friends.” - 'The Moral Sayings Of Publius Syrus: A Roman Slave'.

“If you gain new friends, don't forget the old ones.” - 'The Moral Sayings Of Publius Syrus: A Roman Slave'.