Browse quotations by Publilius Syrus with named works, context notes, meanings and recurring themes.
“Receive an injury rather than do one.”
Personal suffering is treated as morally preferable to becoming the person who deliberately inflicts unjust harm on another.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, maxim 5, in Darius Lyman’s 1856 English rendering; maxim order can vary across editions.
“Friendship either finds or makes equals.”
Friendship works best where people meet one another with mutual regard, either because equality is already present or because the relationship creates it.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 32, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).
“Courage cannot be cast down by adversity.”
Courage is defined by what survives difficulty: adversity may create pressure, but it does not have to decide the person’s response.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 595, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).
“Confidence is the only bond of friendship.”
Trust is presented as the connective tissue of friendship: without confidence in one another, familiarity alone does not make a durable bond.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 34, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).
“To do two things at once is to do neither.”
Divided attention can reduce the quality of both tasks, making concentration a practical condition for completing work well.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, maxim 7, in Darius Lyman’s 1856 English rendering; maxim order can vary across editions.
“Love cannot be stifled, but it may die out.”
Affection cannot always be suppressed by command, but it can still change over time when the conditions that sustained it disappear.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 39, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).
“Time, not the will, can put an end to love.”
The maxim distinguishes deliberate decision from emotional change, suggesting that some attachments fade through time rather than a single act of will.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 43, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).
“Allay the anger of your friend by kindness.”
Kindness can lower the temperature of conflict more effectively than matching a friend’s anger with additional anger.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, maxim 3, in Darius Lyman’s 1856 English rendering; maxim order can vary across editions.
“Audacity augments courage; hesitation, fear.”
The maxim contrasts forward movement with hesitation, arguing that bold action can enlarge courage while delay can give fear more room to grow.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 63, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).
“Hard is it to correct a habit already formed.”
Repeated behavior becomes easier to continue and harder to reverse, which makes early choices about habit formation especially consequential.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, maxim 11, in Darius Lyman’s 1856 English rendering; maxim order can vary across editions.
“Bitter for a free man is the bondage of debt.”
Debt can restrict future choices and independence, so borrowing is framed not only financially but also as a constraint on freedom.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, maxim 14, in Darius Lyman’s 1856 English rendering; maxim order can vary across editions.
“Do not find your happiness in another’s sorrow.”
A person’s good fortune is morally diminished when it depends on enjoying somebody else’s pain or humiliation.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 18, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).
“The loss of a friend is the greatest of losses.”
The maxim treats friendship as a form of value that cannot be measured like property because losing the person also removes shared history and mutual presence.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 37, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).
“There can be no alliance between Love and Fear.”
Love and fear pull a relationship in opposite directions when fear prevents honesty, security, or free affection.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 40, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).
“As men, we are all equal in the presence of death.”
Death strips away rank and status, emphasizing a condition shared by every person regardless of position or wealth.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, maxim 1, in Darius Lyman’s 1856 English rendering; maxim order can vary across editions.
“The evil you do to others you may expect in return.”
Harm has consequences that often return through retaliation, damaged trust, reputation, or the patterns of conduct we create.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, maxim 2, in Darius Lyman’s 1856 English rendering; maxim order can vary across editions.
“A hasty judgement is a first step to a recantation.”
Rushing to a conclusion increases the chance that later evidence will force an embarrassing or costly reversal.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, maxim 8, in Darius Lyman’s 1856 English rendering; maxim order can vary across editions.
“Have courage, or cunning, when you deal with an enemy.”
Danger may require either open bravery or careful strategy; the saying treats courage and judgment as complementary ways of meeting opposition.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 156, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).
“No scar is dishonorable which is a mark of our courage.”
A visible consequence of hardship need not be shameful when it records endurance or brave action rather than failure of character.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 586, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).
“He who dares danger, triumphs over it before it reaches him.”
Decisive action can reduce the psychological power of danger before the outcome is known, because fear no longer controls the first move.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 669, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).
“The will controls the beginnings of love, but not its endings.”
Entering a relationship may involve choice, but the later course of attachment can become more complicated than the decision that began it.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 45, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).
“The courage of the soldiers depends upon the wisdom of the general.”
Leadership affects collective courage because people take greater risks when they trust the judgment guiding the group.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 206, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).
“Adversity shows whether we have friends, or only the shadows of friends.”
Difficulty tests whether a relationship has substance because support under pressure reveals more than companionship during easy circumstances.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 35, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).
“A man of courage never endures an insult; an honorable man never offers one.”
The saying balances firmness with restraint: courage protects dignity, while honor prevents strength from becoming needless aggression.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 997, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).