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Evil: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations

Evil events from evil causes spring.

Culpa enim illa, bis ad eundem, vulgari To stumble twice against the same stone, is a proverbial disgrace.— CICERO — Epistola. X. 20.

Errare mehercule malo cum Platone, quem tu quanti facias, scio quam cum istis vera sentire. By Hercules! I prefer to err with Plato, whom I know how much you value, than to be right in the company of such men.— CICERO — Tusculanarum Disputationum.

I. 17. Ille sinistrorsum hic dexrorsum abit, unus utrique Error, sed variis illudit partibus. One goes to the right, the other to the left; both are wrong, but in different directions.— HORACE — Satiræ. II. 3. 50.

Solent occupationis spe vel impune quædam scelesta committi. Wicked acts are accustomed to be done with impunity for the mere desire of occupation.— AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS — Historia.

XXX. 9. Omne malum nascens facile opprimitur; inveteratum fit plerumque robustius. Every evil in the bud is easily crushed; as it grows older, it becomes stronger. S.— CICERO — Philippica. V. 11.

Quid nos dura refugimus Ætas, quid intactum nefasti Liquimus? What has this unfeeling age of ours left untried, what wickedness has it shunned?— HORACE — Carmina. I. 35. 34.

Magna inter molles concordia. There is great unanimity among the dissolute.— JUVENAL — Satiræ. II. 47.

Fere fit malum malo aptissimum. Evil is fittest to consort with evil.— LIVY — Annales. I. 46.

Notissimum quodque malum maxime tolerabile. The best known evil is the most tolerable. C.— LIVY — Annales. XXIII. 3.

Genus est mortis male vivere. An evil life is a kind of death.— OVID — Epistolæ Ex Ponto. III. 4. 75.

Mille mali species, mille salutis erunt. There are a thousand forms of evil; there will be a thousand remedies.— OVID — Remedia Amoris. V. 26.

Omnia perversas possunt corrumpere mentes. All things can corrupt perverse minds.— OVID — Tristium. II. 301.

Male partum male disperit. Ill gotten is ill spent.— PLAUTUS — Penalus. IV. 2. 22.

Pulchrum ornatum turpes mores pejus cœno collinunt. Bad conduct soils the finest ornament more than filth.— PLAUTUS — Mostellaria. I. 3. 133.

Maledicus a malefico non distat nisi occasione. An evil-speaker differs from an evil-doer only in the want of opportunity.— QUINTILIAN — De Institutione Oratoria.

XII. 9. 9. Per scelera semper sceleribus certum est iter. The way to wickedness is always through wickedness.— SENECA — Agamemnon. CXV.

Serum est cavendi tempus in mediis malis. It is too late to be on our guard when we are in the midst of evils.— SENECA — Thyestes. CCCCLXXXVII.

Si velis vitiis exui, longe a vitiorum exemplis recedendum est. If thou wishest to get rid of thy evil propensities, thou must keep far from evil companions.— SENECA — Epistolæ Ad Lucilium. CIV.

Solent suprema facere securos mala. Desperate evils generally make men safe.— SENECA — Edipus. CCCLXXXVI.

Et tous maux sont pareils alors qu'ils sont extrêmes. All evils are equal when they are extreme.— CORNEILLE — Horace. III. 4.

Souvent la peur d'un mal nous conduit dans un pire. Often the fear of one evil leads us into a worse.— BOILEAU — L'Art Poétique. I. 64.

Das eben ist der Fluch der bösen That, Das sie fortzeugend immer Böses muss gebären. The very curse of an evil deed is that it must always continue to engender evil.— SCHILLER — Piccolomini. V. 1.