Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources. Rev. James Wood
(Gift) only by experience. Rückert.
Catus amat pisces, sed non vult tingere plantas—Puss likes fish, but does not care to wet her feet. Pr.
Causa causans—The Cause of causes.
Causa latet, vis est notissima—The cause is hidden, but the effect is evident enough. Ovid.
Causa sine qua non—An indispensable condition. 10
Cause and effect are two sides of one fact. Emerson.
Cause and effect, means and end, seed and fruit, cannot be severed; for the effect already blooms in the cause, the end preexists in the means, the fruit in the seed. Emerson.
Cause célèbre—A celebrated trial or action at law. Fr.
Caute, non astute—Cautiously, not craftily. M.
Caution is the parent of safety. Pr. 15
Cautious age suspects the flattering form, and only credits what experience tells. Johnson.
Cautis pericla prodesse aliorum solent—Prudent people are ever ready to profit from the experiences of others. Phædr.
Cautus enim metuit foveam lupus, accipiterque / Suspectos laqueos, et opertum miluus hamum—For the wary wolf dreads the pitfall, the hawk the suspected snare, and the fish the concealed hook. Hor.
Cavallo ingrassato tira calci—A horse that is grown fat kicks. It. Pr.
Cave ab homine unius libri—Beware of a man of 20 one book. Pr.
Caveat actor—Let the doer be on his guard. L.
Caveat emptor—Let the buyer be on his guard. L.
Cave canem—Beware of the dog.
Cavendo tutus—Safe by caution. M.
Cave paratus—Be on guard while prepared. 25 M.
Caviare to the general. Ham., ii. 2.
Cease, every joy, to glimmer in my mind, / But leave—oh! leave the light of hope behind! / What though my winged hours of bliss have been, / Like angel-visits, few and far between? Campbell.
Cease to lament for that thou canst not help, / And study help for that which thou lament'st. Two Gent. of Ver., iii. 1.
Cedant arma togæ—Let the military yield to the civil power (lit. to the gown). Cic.
Cedant carminibus reges, regumque triumphi—Kings, 30 and the triumphs of kings, must yield to the power of song. Ovid.
Cedat amor rebus; res age, tutus eris—Let love give way to business; give attention to business, and you will be safe. Ovid.
Cede Deo—Yield to God. Virg.
Cede nullis—Yield to none. M.
Cede repugnanti; cedendo victor abibis—Yield to your opponent; by so doing you will come off victor in the end. Ovid.
Cedite, Romani scriptores; cedite, Graii—Give 35 place, ye Roman writers; give place, ye Greeks (ironically applied to a pretentious author). Prop.
Cedunt grammatici; vincuntur rhetores; / Turba tacet—The grammarians give way; the rhetoricians are beaten off; all the assemblage is silent. Juv.
Cela fera comme un coup d'épée dans l'eau—It will be all lost labour (lit. like a sword-stroke in the water). Fr. Pr.
Cela m'échauffe la bile—That stirs up my bile. Fr.
Cela n'est pas de mon ressort—That is not in my department, or line of things. Fr.
Cela saute aux yeux—That is quite evident 40 (lit. leaps to the eyes). Fr. Pr.
Cela va sans dire—That is a matter of course. Fr.
Cela viendra—That will come some day. Fr.
Celebrity is but the candle-light which will show what man, not in the least make him a better or other man. Carlyle.
Celebrity is the advantage of being known to people whom we don't know, and who don't know us. Chamfort.
Celebrity is the chastisement of merit and the 45 punishment of talent. Chamfort.
Celer et audax—Swift and daring. M.
Celer et fidelis—Swift and faithful. M.
Celerity is never more admired / Than by the negligent. Ant. & Cleop., iii. 7.
Celsæ graviore casu / Decidunt turres—Lofty towers fall with no ordinary crash. Hor.
Celui est homme de bien qui est homme de 50 biens—He is a good man who is a man of goods. Fr. Pr.
Celui-là est le mieux servi, qui n'a pas besoin de mettre les mains des autres au bout de ses bras—He is best served who has no need to put other people's hands at the end of his arms. Rousseau.
Celui qui a grand sens sait beaucoup—A man of large intelligence knows a great deal. Vauvenargues.
Celui qui aime mieux ses trésors que ses amis, mérite de n'être aimé de personne—He who loves his wealth better than his friends does not deserve to be loved by any one. Fr. Pr.
Celui qui dévore la substance du pauvre, y trouve à la fin un os qui l'étrangle—He who devours the substance of the poor will in the end find a bone in it to choke him. Fr. Pr.
Celui qui est sur épaules d'un géant voit plus 55 loin que celui qui le porte—He who is on the shoulders of a giant sees farther than he does who carries him. Fr. Pr.
Celui qui veut, celui-là peut—The man who wills is the man who can. Fr.
Ce ne sont pas les plus belles qui font les grandes passions—It is not the most beautiful women that inspire the greatest passion. Fr. Pr.
Ce n'est pas être bien aisé que de rire—Laughing is not always an index of a mind at ease. Fr.
Ce n'est que le premier pas qui coûte—It is only the first step that is difficult (lit. costs). Fr.
Censor morum—Censor of morals and public conduct.
Censure is the tax a man pays to the public for being eminent. Swift.
Cent ans n'est guère, mais jamais c'est beaucoup—A 5 hundred years is not much, but "never" is a long while. Fr. Pr.
Cento carri di pensieri, non pagaranno un' oncia di debito—A hundred cartloads of care will not pay an ounce of debt. It. Pr.
Cent 'ore di malinconia non pagano un quattrino di' debito—A hundred hours of vexation will not pay one farthing of debt. It. Pr.
Centum doctûm hominum consilia sola hæc devincit dea / Fortuna—This goddess, Fortune, single-handed, frustrates