Horace Quotes

When you have well thought out your subject, words will come spontaneously.

If you would have me weep, you must first of all feel grief yourself.

Faults are committed within the walls of Troy and also without. [There is fault on both sides.]

Take subject matter equal to your powers, and ponder long, what your shoulders cannot bear, and what they can.

We are all gathered to the same fold.

The poet must put on the passion he wants to represent.

Remember to keep the mind calm in difficult moments.

The ear of the bridled horse is in the mouth.

Amiability shines by its own light.

Victory is by nature superb and insulting.

Whatever your advice, make it brief.

In times of stress, be bold and valiant.

Let your poem be kept nine years.

Gold delights to walk through the very midst of the guard, and to break its way through hard rocks, more powerful in its blow than lightning.

Men more quickly and more gladly recall what they deride than what they approve and esteem.

Be brief, that the mind may catch thy precepts, and the more easily retain them.

I shall not completely die.

Blend a little folly with thy worldly plans: it is delightful to give loose on a proper occasion.

There is no retracing our steps.

Whatever things injure your eye you are anxious to remove; but things which affect your mind you defer.

Enjoy the present day, as distrusting that which is to follow.

No one is content with his own lot.

From the egg to the apple.

Carpe diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest; make the most of what you have. It is later than you think.

No poems can please long or live that are written by water drinkers.

Everything that is superfluous overflows from the full bosom.

Who then is free? The one who wisely is lord of themselves, who neither poverty, death or captivity terrify, who is strong to resist his appetites and shun honors, and is complete in themselves smooth and round like a globe

Dare to begin! He who postpones living rightly is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.

Don't just think, do.

What does it avail you, if of many thorns only one be removed.

The cautious wolf fears the pit, the hawk regards with suspicion the snare laid for her, and the fish the hook in its concealment.

Remember when life's path is steep to keep your mind even.

I hate the irreverent rabble and keep them far from me.

High descent and meritorious deeds, unless united to wealth, are as useless as seaweed.

Busy not yourself in looking forward to the events of to-morrow; but whatever may be those of the days Providence may yet assign you neglect not to turn them to advantage.

A shoe that is too large is apt to trip one, and when too small, to pinch the feet. So it is with those whose fortune does not suit them.

Don't long for the unripe grape.

Get what start the sinner may, Retribution, for all her lame leg, never quits his track.

Who knows whether the gods will add tomorrow to the present hour?

What does drunkenness not accomplish? It unlocks secrets, confirms our hopes, urges the indolent into battle, lifts the burden from anxious minds, teaches new arts.

I want to live, and die with you.

Nothing is so difficult but that man will accomplish it.

The trainer trains the docile horse to turn, with his sensitive neck, whichever way the rider indicates.

Ridicule often cuts the knot, where severity fails.

Pale Death beats equally at the poor man's gate and at the palaces of kings.

No, but you're wrong now, and always will be.

When you introduce a moral lesson, let it be brief.

Who has self-confidence will lead the rest.