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Business: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations

Quam quisque novit artem, in hac se exerceat. Let a man practise the profession which he best knows.— CICERO — Tusculanarum Disputationum.

I. 18. Caput est in omni negotio, nôsse quid agendum sit. The most important part of every business is to know what ought to be done.— COLUMELLA — De Re Rustica. I. 1.

Aliena negotia curo, Excussus propriis. I attend to the business of other people, having lost my own.— HORACE — Satira. II. 3. 19.

Quod medicorum est Promittunt medici, tractant fabrilia fabri. Physicians attend to the business of physicians, and workmen handle the tools of workmen.— HORACE — Epistolæ. II. 1. 115.

Sed tamen amoto quæramus seria ludo. Setting raillery aside, let us attend to serious matters.— HORACE — Satiræ. I. 1. 27.

Consilia callida et audacia primâ specie læta, tractatu dura, eventu tristia sunt. Hasty and adventurous schemes are at first view flattering, in execution difficult, and in the issue disastrous.— LIVY — Annales. XXXV. 32.

Dominum videre plurimum in rebus suis. The master looks sharpest to his own business.— PHEDRUS — Fabulæ. II. 8. 28.

Non enim potest quæstus consistere, si eum sumptus superat. There can be no profit, if the outlay exceeds it.— PLAUTUS — Panulus. I. 2. 74.

Ne sutor ultra crepidam. Shoemaker, stick to your last. Proverb quoted by PLINY the Elder- Historia Naturalis. XXXV. 10. 36. Quâ pote quisque in eâ conterat arte diem. Let every one engage in the business with which he is best acquainted.— PROPERTIUS — Elegiæ. II. 1. 46.

Prius quam incipias consulito, et ubi consulueris mature facto opus est. Advise well before you begin: and when you have decided, act promptly.— SALLUST — Catilina. I.

Omnia inconsulti impetus cœpta, initiis valida, spatio languescunt. All inconsiderate enterprises are impetuous at first, but soon languish.— TACITUS — Annales. III. 58.

Par negotiis neque supra. Neither above nor below his business.— TACITUS — Annales. VI. 39.

Cujuslibet tu fidem in pecuniâ perspiceres, Verere ei verba credere? Do you fear to trust the word of a man, whose honesty you have seen in business?— TERENCE — Phormio. I. 2. 10.

Omnibus nobis ut res dant sese, ita magni atque humiles sumus. We all, according as our business prospers or fails, are elated or cast down.— TERENCE — Hecyra. III. 2. 20.