Latin Quotes for the Office: 15 Mottos and What They Mean
Latin mottos are the original office wall art. Universities, regiments, law firms and families have put two or three Latin words over a door for centuries, and the appeal has not changed: a motto is a rule you have agreed to be held to, and Latin makes it sound settled. It also sets beautifully, in capitals, short enough to go very large.
Below are fifteen from our Latin collection with plain translations and a sentence on where each comes from. Where a motto is a general proverb rather than a line from a named author, the print is credited simply to 'Latin proverb'. Two have shakier attributions, and we say so.
Mottos about work
1. Acta Non Verba
Acta Non Verba
Deeds, not words
Deeds, not words. A general Latin proverb rather than a quotation, and the most straightforward thing you can put on an office wall. It is also the motto of the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
Where it belongs: A meeting room, or the wall you see when you look up from your desk.
2. Labor Omnia Vincit
Labor Omnia Vincit
Hard work conquers all
Work conquers all. From Virgil's Georgics, a long poem about farming written around 29 BC; the original line is about how hard labour overcomes everything, in a passage about how Jupiter made life difficult so that humans would invent things. It is the state motto of Oklahoma.
Where it belongs: Workshop, studio, trades office. Set it in a heavy sans.
3. Gutta Cavat Lapidem
Gutta Cavat Lapidem
A drop hollows a stone
The drop hollows the stone. From Ovid's Letters from Pontus, written in exile. It is the Latin cousin of the Chinese 滴水穿石: persistence, not force. Popular with lawyers and anyone whose work is slow and cumulative.
Where it belongs: A private office or a study. A serif face, not too large.
4. Festina Lente
Festina Lente
Make haste slowly
Make haste slowly. Often attributed to the emperor Augustus, who according to the historian Suetonius was fond of saying it; the phrase is Latin but he may have said it in Greek. It was the motto of the Venetian printer Aldus Manutius, with a dolphin and anchor as its emblem, so it has printing history of its own.
Where it belongs: An editor's desk, a kitchen, a workshop. A neat small print rather than a large one.
5. Docendo Discimus
Docendo Discimus
By teaching, we learn
By teaching, we learn. The idea is in Seneca's Letters to Lucilius, though the compressed two-word form is later. It is the standard motto of teacher training colleges and a good one for anyone who mentors.
Where it belongs: A classroom, a tutor's room, a home office.
Mottos about ambition and nerve
6. Ad Astra Per Aspera
Ad Astra Per Aspera
Through hardships to the stars
Through hardships to the stars. A proverb with no single author, and one of the most used mottos in the world: Kansas has it, so do air forces, schools and a great many tattoos. Per Aspera Ad Astra is equally common; both orders are correct.
Where it belongs: A study, a child's room, a hallway. It reads well in three stacked lines.
7. Audentes Fortuna Iuvat
Audentes Fortuna Iuvat
Fortune favors the bold
Fortune favours the bold. From the Aeneid, book 10, where Turnus says it before a fight he will eventually lose, which is worth remembering. Terence had the same thought earlier as Fortes Fortuna Adiuvat. It is the office motto for people who take risks, or who would like to.
Where it belongs: A startup office or a sales floor. Big and bold.
8. Aut Viam Inveniam Aut Faciam
Aut Viam Inveniam Aut Faciam
I shall either find a way or make one
I shall either find a way or make one. Often attributed to Hannibal, supposedly said when his generals told him the Alps could not be crossed with elephants. No ancient source records him saying it, so treat the story as a story. The sentence itself is excellent.
Where it belongs: An engineering office, a logistics firm, a garage.
9. Veni, Vidi, Vici
Veni, Vidi, Vici
I came, I saw, I conquered
I came, I saw, I conquered. Caesar's report on the battle of Zela in 47 BC, recorded by Suetonius and Plutarch. Three verbs, three words, and the most famous piece of Latin in the world. On an office wall it is usually a joke, and a good one.
Where it belongs: A reception desk, a games room, a small business's back office.
10. Non Ducor, Duco
Non Ducor, Duco
I am not led, I lead
I am not led, I lead. A proverb, and the motto of the city of São Paulo. It is a line for someone with a team, and it is worth being sure you mean it before hanging it where they can see.
Where it belongs: A director's office. Sparingly.
11. In Omnia Paratus
In Omnia Paratus
Ready for anything
Ready for anything. A general motto used by military units and, more recently, by people who watched Gilmore Girls. It is a good one for a shared office because it is cheerful rather than stern.
Where it belongs: Reception, a team room, a hallway.
Mottos about time and judgement
12. Carpe Diem
Carpe Diem
Seize the day
Seize the day. From Horace's Odes (1.11), written around 23 BC. The full line is 'carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero', seize the day and trust as little as possible in tomorrow. 'Carpe' is really 'pluck', as you would fruit, which gives it a gentler sense than the English.
Where it belongs: Anywhere. It is the one Latin print that suits a kitchen as well as an office.
13. Tempus Fugit
Tempus Fugit
Time flies
Time flies. From Virgil's Georgics again; the original is 'fugit inreparabile tempus', time flies beyond recall. It has been engraved on clocks and sundials for centuries, which tells you where it belongs.
Where it belongs: Above a clock, or in a hallway. A small print in a serif face.
14. Sapere Aude
Sapere Aude
Dare to know
Dare to know. From Horace's Epistles, and later adopted by Kant as the motto of the Enlightenment in his 1784 essay 'What is Enlightenment?'. It is the phrase for a library or a research office.
Where it belongs: A study, a library, a lab. Pairs well with number 3.
15. Aquila Non Capit Muscas
Aquila Non Capit Muscas
The eagle does not catch flies
The eagle does not catch flies. A proverb about not wasting effort on trivial things, and a quiet way of telling yourself to stop answering every email. It appears as a family motto in heraldic collections.
Where it belongs: A private office, above the desk of someone who needs to delegate.
Setting Latin well
Latin was written in capitals, and most of these mottos look best that way: a Roman-style serif with generous letterspacing, or a plain grotesque for a modern room. Avoid script designs, which fight the material. Short phrases hold up at the largest sizes, and two words at 18x24 in a wide frame make a strong statement piece. Numbers 1, 6 and 12 also work as a set of three at a smaller size along a corridor.
How the prints work
Every quote on thequote.shop is an instant PDF download. Pick the design you like from up to 20 typographic layouts, choose a size (eight options from 5x7 to 24x36, plus A4), and the file is ready the moment your order goes through. Print it at home on good card stock, or send it to a local print shop for a heavier paper and a crisp finish. Frames are your call; the sizes are standard so off-the-shelf frames fit.
Browse the full set in the Latin quotes collection.