Virgil Quotations With English Translations

Publius Vergilius Maro (October 15, 70 BCE - September 21, 19 BCE) was the leading poet of the Augustan era. His Aeneid glorified Rome and especially the ancestry of the first Roman emperor, Augustus (Octavian). The influence of Virgil (Vergil) on subsequent writers has been immense. He is responsible for sayings or the sentiments behind sayings that we still use, like "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts," from Book II of the Aeneid.

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Quotes from 'The Aeneid' by Virgil

By Esther Lombardi

All Virgil quotations listed here include a reference to their original location, the Latin that Virgil wrote, and either an old, almost archaic translation from the public domain (mainly for the longer passages) or my own translation.

• [Lat., Experto credite.]
  Believe in the one who knows from experience. (Trust the expert.)- The Aeneid (XI.283)
• [Lat., Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco]
  Not being ignorant of bad things, I learn to help the wretched.- The Aeneid (I.630)
• [Lat., Superanda omnis fortuna ferendo est.]
  Every fortune is to be conquered by bearing (it).- The Aeneid (V. 710)
• [Lat., Quisque suos patimur manes.]
  We each allow our own ghosts. (We make our own destiny.)- The Aeneid (VI.743)
• [Lat., Disce, puer, virtutem ex me, verumque laborem; Fortunam ex aliis.]
  Boy, learn virtue from me, and true work; luck from others.- The Aeneid (XII, 435)
• [Lat., Saevit amor ferri et scelerata insania belli.]
  Love of iron (weapon) rages; also the criminal madness of war.- The Aeneid (VII.461)
• [Lat., Nescia mens hominum fati sortisque futurae,
  Et servare modum, rebus sublata secundis.]
  O heart of man,/ not knowing doom, nor of events to be!/ Nor, being lifted up, to keep thy bounds/ in prosperous days!- The Aeneid (X.501)
• [Lat., Stat sua cuique dies; breve et irreparabile tempus
  Omnibus est vitae; set famam extendere factis
  Hoc virtutis opus.]
  "To each his day is given. Beyond recall/ man's little time runs by: but to prolong/ life's glory by great deeds is virtue's power.- The Aeneid (X.467)
• [Lat., Aegrescitque medendo.]
  He grows increasingly ill with the remedy. (The medicine is making him sick.)- The Aeneid (XII.46)
• [Lat., O formose puer, nimium ne crede colori;]
  Oh! Beautiful boy, don't put too much faith on (your) complexion. (Perhaps, 'beauty fades'.)- Eclogae (II.17)

*The real version, Nunc scio, quid sit Amor, comes from Virgil's Eclogues VIII.43. Not all misquotes are so easy to untangle.