Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources. Rev. James Wood
A peck of March dust is worth a king's ransom. Pr.
A pedant is a precocious old man. De Boufflers. 25
A penny hained (saved) is a penny gained. Sc. Pr.
Aperçu—A sketch. Fr.
A perfect woman, nobly planned, / To warn, to comfort, and command. Wordsworth.
Aperit præcordia liber—Wine opens the seals of the heart. Hor.
A perte de vue—Beyond the range of vision. Fr. 30
Aperte mala cum est mulier, tum demum est bona—A woman when she is openly bad, is at least honest.
Aperto vivere voto—To live with every wish avowed. Pers.
A pet lamb makes a cross ram. Pr.
Aphorisms are portable wisdom. W. R. Alger.
Apio opus est—There is need of parsley, i.e., 35 to strew on the grave, meaning that one is dying.
A pity that the eagle should be mew'd, / While kites and buzzards prey at liberty. Rich. III., i. 1.
A place for everything, and everything in its place. Pr.
A plague of sighing and grief; it blows a man up like a bladder. 1 Hen. IV., i. 4.
A plant often removed cannot thrive. Pr.
A pleasing figure is a perpetual letter of recommendation. 40 Bacon.
[Greek: Aplêstos pithos]—A cask that cannot be filled (being pierced at the bottom with holes.) Pr.
A plomb—Perpendicularly; firmly. Fr.
A poem is the very image of life expressed in its eternal truth. Schelling.
A poet is a nightingale, who sits in the darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds. Shelley.
A poet must be before his age, to be even with 45 posterity. Lowell.
A poet must sing for his own people. Stedman.
A poet on canvas is exactly the same species of creature as a poet in song. Ruskin.
A poison which acts not at once is not therefore a less dangerous poison. Lessing.
A position of eminence makes a great man greater and a little man less. La Bruyère.
Apothegms are, in history, the same as the 50 pearls in the sand or the gold in the mine. Erasmus.
[Greek: 'Ap' echthrôn polla manthanousin hoi sophoi]—Wise men learn many things from their enemies. Aristoph.
A point—To a point exactly. Fr.
Apollo himself confessed it was ecstasy to be a man among men. Schiller.
A posse ad esse—From possibility to actuality.
A posteriori—From the effect to the cause; by 55 induction.
Apothecaries would not sugar their pills unless they were bitter. Pr.
A pound of care won't pay an ounce of debt. Pr.
Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto—A few are seen swimming here and there in the vast abyss. Virg.
Appetitus rationi pareat—Let reason govern desire. Cic.
Applause is the spur of noble minds, the aim 60 and end of weak ones. Colton.
Après la mort le médecin—After death the doctor. Fr. Pr.
Après la pluie, le beau temps—After the rain, fair weather. Fr. Pr.
Après nous le déluge—After us the deluge! Mme. de Pompadour.
A primrose by a river's brim / A yellow primrose was to him, / And it was nothing more. Wordsworth.
A prince can mak' a belted knight, / A marquis, 65 duke, and a' that; / But an honest man's aboon his might, / Gude faith, he maunna fa' that. Burns.
A priori—From the cause to the effect; by deduction.
A progress of society on the one hand, a decline of souls on the other. Amiel.
A promise is a debt. Gael. Pr.
A propensity to hope and joy is real riches; one to fear and sorrow, real poverty. Hume.
A prophet is not without honour, save in his 5 own country, and in his own house. Jesus.
A propos—To the point; seasonably; in due time. Fr.
A propos de bottes—By-the-bye. Fr.
A proverb is good sense brought to a point. John Morley.
A proverb is much matter decocted into few words. Fuller.
Apt alliteration's artful aid. Churchill. 10
Apt to revolt, and willing to rebel, / And never are contented when they're well. Defoe.
A puñadas entran las buenas hadas—Good luck pushes its way (lit. gets on) by elbowing. Sp. Pr.
A purpose you impart is no longer your own. Goethe.
A quatre épingles—With four pins, i.e., done up like a dandy. Fr.
Aquel pierde venta que no tiene que venda—He 15 who has nothing to sell loses his market. Sp. Pr.
A quien tiene buena muger, ningun mal le puede venir, que no sea de sufrir—To him who has a good wife no evil can come which he cannot bear. Sp. Pr.
Aquilæ senectus—The old age of the eagle. Ter.
Aquila non capit muscas—An eagle does not catch flies. M.
A qui veut rien n'est impossible—Nothing is impossible to one with a will. Fr. Pr.
A raconter ses maux, souvent on les soulage—Our 20 misfortunes are often lightened by relating them. Corneille.
A ragged colt may make a good horse. Pr.
Aranearum telas texere—To weave spiders' webs, i.e., a tissue of sophistry.
Arbeit ist des Blutes Balsam: / Arbeit ist der Tugend Quell—Labour is balm to the blood: labour is the source of virtue. Herder.
Arbiter bibendi—The master of the feast (lit. the judge of the drinking).
Arbiter elegantiarum—The arbitrator of elegances; 25 the master of the ceremonies.
Arbiter formæ—Judge of beauty.
Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness. Washington.