6 cryptograms to solve with a pencil. Each letter of the quote has been swapped for another letter, and the same swap holds all the way through.
20 pt ciphertext — the size a newspaper puzzle page never gives you. 26 pt ciphertext with wide letter spacing and room to write. Both sizes print on US Letter with the answer key on its own page.
Printing this web page instead? Press Ctrl+P (⌘+P on a Mac). The navigation and buttons drop away, and the answer key prints on its own page — open it below first if you want it included.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Solver's cheat sheet
Most common letters
E T A O I N S H R D L U
Most common 1-letter words
A I
Most common 2-letter words
OF TO IN IT IS BE AS AT SO WE HE BY OR ON DO IF ME MY UP AN GO NO US AM
Most common 3-letter words
THE AND FOR ARE BUT NOT YOU ALL ANY CAN HER WAS ONE OUR OUT DAY GET HAS HIM HIS HOW MAN NEW NOW OLD SEE TWO WAY WHO BOY DID ITS LET PUT SAY SHE TOO USE
Common double letters
LL EE SS OO TT FF RR NN PP CC
Common word endings
-ING -ION -ENT -TION -LY -ED -ER -EST
After an apostrophe
T (don't) S (it's) RE (we're) VE (I've) LL (we'll) D (I'd)
“The mind indeed, both when it exercises caution and when it is employed about inquiry, moves straight onward not the less, and to its object.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=J B=E C=U D=Z E=I F=W G=A H=D I=C J=H K=T L=O M=L N=S O=X P=Y Q=K R=N S=R T=P U=B V=G W=M X=Q Y=V Z=F
“Remember that to change thy opinion and to follow him who corrects thy error is as consistent with freedom as it is to persist in thy error.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=W B=Y C=S D=X E=K F=J G=H H=V I=C J=N K=T L=U M=D N=M O=A P=G Q=R R=Q S=B T=F U=Z V=O W=P X=L Y=I Z=E
“Just as the sand-dunes, heaped one upon another, hide each the first, so in life the former deeds are quickly hidden by those that follow after.”— Marcus Aurelius, 170, Meditations, VII. 34 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=S B=R C=M D=Z E=Q F=G G=K H=I I=O J=L K=B L=J M=F N=Y O=D P=E Q=T R=W S=N T=V U=P V=U W=X X=H Y=A Z=C
“It is useful to perceive this, too, immediately when the occasion arises, what virtue nature has given to man to oppose to every wrongful act.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=S B=R C=L D=N E=W F=T G=Z H=M I=G J=C K=E L=U M=Q N=V O=D P=F Q=H R=X S=O T=Y U=B V=P W=J X=A Y=I Z=K
“He that knows not what the world is, knows not where he is himself. He that knows not for what he was made, knows not what he is nor what the world is.”— Marcus Aurelius, 170, Meditations, VIII. 52 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=V B=Z C=K D=U E=M F=C G=I H=T I=D J=N K=Q L=E M=L N=H O=A P=B Q=P R=Y S=O T=F U=W V=X W=G X=J Y=R Z=S
“It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his own badness, which is indeed possible, but to fly from other men's badness, which is impossible.”— Marcus Aurelius, 1862, Meditations (George Long translation, 1862)Cipher key: A=M B=A C=S D=H E=J F=N G=O H=T I=L J=V K=W L=R M=E N=D O=G P=Q Q=B R=U S=K T=P U=X V=Z W=C X=Y Y=I Z=F