How few, alas! their proper faults explore;
While on his loaded back who walks before,
Each eye is fix'd.

SELF-KNOWLEDGE.

Sat. iv. 52.

Tecum habita, et nôris, quam sit tibi curta supellex.
To your own breast, in quest of worth, repair,
And blush to find how poor a stock is there!

TRIFLES.

Sat. v. 20.

Dare pondus idonea fumo.

Mistake me not. Far other thoughts engage
My mind, Cornutus, than to swell my page
With air-blown trifles, impotent and vain,
And grace, with noisy pomp, an empty strain.

DIFFERENCES OF OPINION.

Sat. v. 52.

Mille hominum species, et rerum discolor usus.
Velle suum cuique est, nec voto vivitur uno.
Countless the various species of mankind,

Countless the shades which separate mind from mind;
No general object of desire is known;

Each has his will, and each pursues his own.

TO-MORROW.

Sat. v. 64.

Petite hinc juvenesque senesque

Finem animo certum, miserisque viatica canis.
"Cras hoc fiet." Idem cras fiet. "Quid, quas magnum?
Nempe diem donas." Sed cum lux altera venit,
Jam cras hesternum consumsimus. Ecce aliud cras
Egerit hos annos, et semper paullum erit ultra.
Nam quamvis prope te, quamvis temone sub uno
Vertentem sese, frustra sectabere canthum,
Cum rota posterior curras et in axe secundo.
There seek, ye young, ye old, secure to find
That certain end which stays the wav'ring mind;
Stores which endure when other means decay,
Through life's last stage, a sad and cheerless way.
"Right; and to-morrow this shall be our care.'
Alas! to-morrow like to-day will fare,

"What! is one day, forsooth, so great a boon?"
But when it comes, (and come it will too soon,)
Reflect that yesterday's to-morrow's o'er.
Thus "one to-morrow! one to-morrow more!
Have seen long years before them fade away;
And still appear no nearer than to-day!
So while the wheels on different axles roll,
In vain (though govern'd by the self-same pole)
The hindmost to o'ertake the foremost tries;
Fast as the one pursues the other flies!

FREEDOM.

Sat. v. 83.

An quisquam est alius liber, nisi ducere vitam
Cui licet ut voluit?

All mankind agree

That those who live without control are free.

HYPOCRISY.

Sat. v. 116.

Fronte politus

Astutam vapido servas sub pectore vulpem.
And while thy face is gloss'd with specious art,
The wily fox lies lurking at thy heart.

THE MIND.

Sat. v. 129.

Intus et in jecore ægro

Nascuntur domini.

Within and in thy morbid breast there spring up masters.

ENJOY THE PRESENT.

Sat. v. 151.

Indulge genio, carpamus dulcia: nostrum est,
Quod vivis: cinis et manes et fabula fies.

Vive memor leti. Fugit hora: hoc, quod loquor, inde est.

O rather cultivate the joys of sense,

And crop the sweets which youth and health dispense;

Give the light hours to banquets, love, and wine:

These are the zest of life, and these are mine!

Dust and a shade are all you soon must be :

Live, then, while yet you may. Time presses.-See!
Even while I speak, the present is become

The past, and lessens still life's little sum.

DIFFERENT DISPOSITIONS IN THE SAME FAMILY.

Producis genio.

Sat. vi. 18.

Geminos, horoscope varo

But inclinations vary: and the Power
That beams, ascendant, on the natal hour,
Ev'n twins produces of discordant souls,
And tempers wide asunder as the poles.

GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER.
Sat. vi. 57.

Quære ex me, quis mihi quartus

Sit pater: haud prompte, dicam tamen. Adde etiam unum, Unum etiam: terræ est jam filius.

Nay, question me,

Ask who my grandsire's sire? I know not well;

And yet, on recollection, I might tell;

But urge me one step further-I am mute :
A son of earth.

PHÆDRUS

THE POWERFUL.
i. 5.

Nunquam est fidelis cum potente societas.

A partnership with men in power
We cannot build upon an hour.

BRAINS.
i. 7.

O quanta species, inquit, cerebrum non habet!

O rare

The headpiece, if but brains were there.

ADVICE.
i. 9.

Sibi non cavere, et aliis consilium dare,
Stultum est.

Still to give cautions, as a friend,
And not one's own affairs attend,
Is but impertinent and vain.

REPENTANCE.

i. 13.

Qui se laudari gaudent verbis subdolis,
Serâ dant pœnas turpes pœnitentiâ.

His folly in repentance ends
Who to a flatt'ring knave attends.

THE POOR.

i. 15.

In principatu commutando civium
Nil præter domini nomen mutant pauperes.

In all the changes of a state,

The poor are the most fortunate,
Who, save the name of him they call
Their king, can find no odds at all.

LIARS.
i. 17.

Solent mendaces luere pœnas malefici.

Liars are liable to rue

The mischief they're so prone to do.

SMOOTH SPEECHES.

i. 19.

Habent insidias hominis blanditiæ mali.

Bad men have speeches smooth and fair.

AN ILL-JUDGED PLAN.

i. 20.

Stultum consilium non modo effectu caret,
Sed ad perniciem quoque mortales devocat.
A stupid plan that fools reject,
Not only will not take effect,
But proves destructive in the end
To those that bungle and pretend.

LOST DIGNITY.
i. 21.

Quicumque amisit dignitatem pristinam
Ignavis etiam jocus est in casu gravi,
Whoever to his honour's cost,
His pristine dignity has lost,
Is the fool's jest and coward's scorn
When once deserted and forlorn.

SUDDEN LIBERALITY.
i. 23.

Repente liberalis stultis gratus est,
Verum peritis irritos tendit dolos.
A man that's generous all at once
May dupe a novice or a dunce;
But to no purpose are the snares
He for the knowing ones prepares.

PUNISHMENT.

i. 26.

Sua quisque exempla debet æquo animo pati
That every one the fruits should bear
Of their example is but fair.

THE EXALTED.

i. 28.

Quamvis sublimes debent humiles metuere.

Howe'er exalted in your sphere,

There's something for the mean to fear.

SUBJECTS SUFFER.

i. 29.

Humiles laborant, ubi potentes dissident.
Men of low life are in distress,
When great ones enmity profess.

BUSYBODIES.
ii. 5.

Gratis anhelans, multa agendo nihil agens.

Idly bustling here and there,
I've never any time to spare.