Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources. Rev. James Wood
Calumny will sear / Virtue itself: these shrugs, these hums and ha's. Winter's Tale, ii. 1.
Camelus desiderans cornua etiam aures perdidit—The 55 camel begging for horns was deprived of his ears as well. Pr.
Campos ubi Troja fuit—The fields where Troy once stood. Lucan.
Campus Martius—A place of military exercise (lit. field of Mars).
Canaille—The rabble. Fr.
Canam mihi et Musis—I will sing to myself and the Muses, i.e., if no one else will listen. Anon.
"Can" and "shall," well understood, mean the same thing under this sun of ours. Carlyle.
Can anybody remember when the times were not hard and money not scarce? or when sensible men, and the right sort of men, and the right sort of women, were plentiful? Emerson.
Can ch' abbaia non morde—A dog that barks does not bite. It. Pr.
Can che morde non abbaia in vano—A dog that bites does not bark in vain. It. Pr.
Can despots compass aught that hails their 5 sway? / Or call with truth one span of earth their own, / Save that wherein at last they crumble bone by bone? Byron.
Candida pax homines, trux decet ira feras—Wide-robed peace becomes men, ferocious anger only wild beasts. Ovid.
Candide et caute—With candour and caution. M.
Candide et constanter—With candour and constancy. M.
Candide secure—Honesty is the best policy. M.
Candidus in nauta turpis color: æquoris unda / 10 Debet et a radiis sideris esse niger—A fair complexion is a disgrace in a sailor; he ought to be tanned, from the spray of the sea and the rays of the sun. Ovid.
"Can do" is easy (easily) carried aboot. Sc. Pr.
Candor dat viribus alas—Candour gives wings to strength. M.
Candour is the brightest gem of criticism. Disraeli.
Canes timidi vehementius latrant quam mordent—Cowardly dogs bark more violently than they bite. Q. Curt.
Cane vecchio non abbaia indarno—An old dog 15 does not bark for nothing. It. Pr.
Can I choose my king? I can choose my King Popinjay, and play what farce or tragedy I may with him; but he who is to be my ruler, whose will is higher than my will, was chosen for me in heaven. Carlyle.
Canina facundia—Dog (i.e., snarling) eloquence. Appius.
Canis a non canendo—Dog is called "canis," from "non cano," not to sing. Varro.
Canis in præsepi—The dog in the manger (that would not let the ox eat the hay which he could not eat himself).
Cannon and firearms are cruel and damnable 20 machines. I believe them to have been the direct suggestion of the devil. Luther.
Can storied urn or animated bust / Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? / Can honour's voice provoke the silent dust, / Or flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death? Gray.
Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas'd, / Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, / Raze out the written troubles of the brain? / And with some sweet oblivious antidote, / Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff / Which weighs upon the heart? Macb., v. 3.
Can such things be, / And overcome us like a summer's cloud, / Without our special wonder? Macb., iii. 4.
Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator—The penniless traveller will sing in presence of the robber. Juv.
Can that which is the greatest virtue in philosophy, 25 doubt, be in religion, what we priests term it, the greatest of sins? Bovee.
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Bible.
Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Nathanael.
Cantilenam eandem canis—You are always singing the same tune, i.e., harping on one theme. Ter.
Cant is properly a double-distilled lie, the second power of a lie. Carlyle.
Cant is the voluntary overcharging or prolonging 30 of a real sentiment. Hazlitt.
Can wealth give happiness? look around and see, / What gay distress! what splendid misery! / Whatever fortunes lavishly can pour, / The mind annihilates and calls for more. Young.
Can we wonder that men perish and are forgotten, when their noblest and most enduring works decay? Ausonius.
"Can you tell a plain man the plain road to heaven?"—"Surely. Turn at once to the right, then go straight forward." Bp. Wilberforce.
Caõ que muito ladra, nunca bom para a caça—A dog that barks much is never a good hunter. Port. Pr.
Capable of all kinds of devotion, and of all 35 kinds of treason, raised to the second power, woman is at once the delight and the terror of man. Amiel.
Capacity without education is deplorable, and education without capacity is thrown away. Saadi.
Cap-à-pié—From head to foot. Fr.
Capias—A writ to order the seizure of a defendant's person. L.
Capias ad respondendum—You may take him to answer your complaint. L.
Capias ad satisfaciendum—You may take him 40 to satisfy your claim. L.
Capiat, qui capere possit—Let him take who can. Pr.
Capistrum maritale—The matrimonial halter. Juv.
Capitis nives—The snowy locks of the head. Hor.
Capo grasso, cervello magro—Fat head, lean brains. It. Pr.
Captivity is the greatest of all evils that can 45 befall man. Cervantes.
Captivity, / That comes with honour, is true liberty. Massinger.
Captum te nidore suæ putat ille culinæ—He thinks he has caught you with the savoury smell of his kitchen. Juv.
Caput artis est, decere quod facias—The chief thing in any art you may practise is that you do only the one you are fit for. Pr.
Caput inter nubila condit—(Fame) hides her head amid the clouds. Virg.
Caput mortuum—The worthless remains; a ninny. 50
Caput mundi—The head of the world, i.e., Rome, both ancient and modern.
Cara al mio cuor tu sei, / Ciò ch'è il sole agli occhi miei—Thou art as dear to my heart as the sun to my eyes. It. Pr.