Top 120 Martial Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Life is not merely to be alive, but to be well.”

— Martial

2. “Tomorrow’s life is too late. Live today.”

— Martial

3. “Life is not living, but living in health.”

— Martial

4. “Why do strong arms fatigue themselves with frivolous dumbbells? To dig a vineyard is worthier exercise for men.”

— Martial

5. “Conceal a flaw, and the world will imagine the worst.”

— Martial

6. “If you have any shame, forbear to pluck the beard of a dead lion.”

— Martial

7. “My poems are naughty, but my life is pure.”

— Martial

8. “If pale beans bubble for you in a red earthenware pot, you can often decline the dinners of sumptuous hosts.”

— Martial

9. “Rarity gives a charm; so early fruits and winter roses are the most prized; and coyness sets off an extravagant mistress, while the door always open tempts no suitor.”

— Martial

10. “No hero to me is the man who, by easy shedding of his blood, purchases fame: my hero is he who, without death, can win praise.”

— Martial

11. “There is no living with thee, nor without thee.”

— Martial

12. “Wine and women bring misery.”

— Martial

13. “You may envy every one, but no one envies you.”

— Martial

14. “A novice always behaves with propriety.”

— Martial

15. “To be able to enjoy one’s past life is to live twice.”

— Martial

16. “Gifts are like fish-hooks; for who is not aware that the greedy char is deceived by the fly which he swallows?”

— Martial

17. “Givers of great dinners know few enemies.”

— Martial

18. “The face that cannot smile is never fair.”

— Martial

19. “A man who lives everywhere lives nowhere.”

— Martial

20. “The virtuous man is never a novice in worldly things.”

— Martial

21. “There is nothing more contemptible than a bald man who pretends to have hair.”

— Martial

22. “You give me nothing during your life, but you promise to provide for me at your death. If you are not a fool, you know what I wish for!”

— Martial

23. “For life is only life when blessed with health.”

— Martial

24. “Why do I not kiss you, Philaenis? you are bald. Why do I not kiss you, Philaenis? you are carrotty. Why do I not kiss you, Philaenis? you are one-eyed. He who kisses you, Philaenis, sins against nature.”

— Martial

25. “Fortune gives too much to many, enough to none.”

— Martial

26. “If I remember right, Aelia, you had four teeth; a cough displaced two, another two more. You can now cough without anxiety all the day long. A third cough can find nothing to do in your mouth.”

— Martial

27. “You admire, Vacerra, only the poets of old and praise only those who are dead. Pardon me, I beseech you, Vacerra, if I think death too high a price to pay for your praise.”

— Martial

28. “You ask what a nice girl will do? She won’t give an inch, but she won’t say no.”

— Martial

29. “Do you ask why I am unwilling to marry a rich wife? It is because I am unwilling to be taken to husband by my wife. The mistress of the house should be subordinate to her husband, for in no other way, Priscus, will the wife and husband be on an equality.”

— Martial

30. “What quick wit is found in sudden straits!”

— Martial

31. “The flaw which is hidden is deemed greater than it is.”

— Martial

32. “You are sad in the midst of every blessing. Take care that Fortune does not observe – or she will call you ungrateful.”

— Martial

33. “There is no glory in otustripping donkeys.”

— Martial

34. “It is to live twice when we can enjoy the recollections of our former life.”

— Martial

35. “Virtue extends our days: he lives two lives who relives his past with pleasure.”

— Martial

36. “If you are poor now, Aemilianus, you will always be poor. Riches are now given to none but the rich.”

— Martial

37. “You puff the poets of other days, The living you deplore. Spare me the accolade: your praise Is not worth dying for.”

— Martial

38. “Every epigram should resemble a bee; it should have sting, honey, and brevity.”

— Martial

39. “If fame is to come only after death, I am in no hurry for it.”

— Martial

40. “I commend you, Postumus, for kissing me with only half your lip; you may, however, if you please, withhold even the half of this half. Are you inclined to grant me a boon still greater, and even inexpressible? Keep this whole half entirely to yourself, Postumus.”

— Martial

41. “The swifter hand doth the swift words outrun: Before the tongue hath spoke the hand hath done.”

— Martial

42. “I am a shell-fish just come from being saturated with the waters of the Lucrine lake, near Baiae; but now I luxuriously thrust for noble pickle.”

— Martial

43. “The swan murmurs sweet strains with a flattering tongue, itself the singer of its own dirge.”

— Martial

44. “While an ant was wandering under the shade of the tree of Phaeton, a drop of amber enveloped the tiny insect; thus she, who in life was disregarded, became precious by death.”

— Martial

45. “I do not love thee, Sabidius, nor can I say why; I can only say this, “I do not love thee.””

— Martial

46. “Every bird that upwards swings Bears the Cross upon its wings.”

— Martial

47. “It is feeling and force of imagination that make us eloquent.”

— Martial

48. “A fisherman’s walk: three steps and overboard.”

— Martial

49. “It is as good as second life to be able to look back upon our past life with pleasure.”

— Martial

50. “Joys do not stay, but take wing and fly away.”

— Martial