Nulla dies sine linea is a Latin phrase meaning "no day without a line". The idea was originated by Pliny the Elder (Natural History, XXXV, 84),[1] where the idea applies to the Greek painter Apelles, who did not go a day without drawing at least one line. The phrase itself is attested for the first time in the Proverbiorum libellus by Polydore Vergil (1470-1555).[2]
In classical Latin, linea literally means a "linen thread", hence a "line", and figuratively designates a line, drawn with a feather or a brush,[3] but not a line of text. However, many writers have adopted this phrase to mean a line of text.