361 Quotes by Virgil

Mind moves matter.

The leader of the deed was a woman. -Dux femina facti.

Mantua gave me birth, Calabri snatched me away, now Parthenope holds me; I sang of shepherds, pastures, and heroes. -Mantua me genuit, Calabri rapuere, tenet nunc Parthenope, cecini pascua, rura, duces.

Every man’s last day is fixed. Lifetimes are brief, and not to be regained, for all mankind. But by their deeds to make their fame last: that is labor for the brave.

Don’t trust the horse, Trojans. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even bearing gifts. -Equo ne credite, Teucri. Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.

It is easy to go down into Hell; Night and day, the gates of dark Death stand wide; But to climb back again, to retrace one’s steps to the upper air – There’s the rub, the task.

Roman, remember by your strength to rule Earth’s peoples – for your arts are to be these: To pacify, to impose the rule of law, To spare the conquered, battle down the proud.

The seeds of life – fiery is their force, divine their birth, but they are weighed down by the bodies’ ills or dulled by limbs and flesh that’s born for death. That is the source of all men’s fears and longings, joys and sorrows, nor can they see the heaven’s light, shut up in the body’s tomb, a prison dark and deep.

Better times perhaps await us who are now wretched.