There is a mean in all things; even virtue itself has stated limits; which not being strictly observed, it ceases to be virtue.
HoraceLet the character as it began be preserved to the last; and let it be consistent with itself.
HoraceWise were the kings who never chose a friend till with full cups they had unmasked his soul, and seen the bottom of his deepest thoughts.
HoracePoverty urges us to do and suffer anything that we may escape from it, and so leads us away from virtue.
HoraceThe poets aim is either to profit or to please, or to blend in one the delightful and the useful. Whatever the lesson you would convey, be brief, that your hearers may catch quickly what is said and faithfully retain it. Every superfluous word is spilled from the too-full memory.
HoraceAdversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant.
HoraceThe body, enervated by the excesses of the preceding day, weighs down and prostates the mind also.
HoraceCarpe diem, quam minimum credula postero'Snatch at today and trust as little as you can in tomorrow' - (Odes) Often translated as 'Seize the day'.
HoraceSad people dislike the happy, and the happy the sad; the quick thinking the sedate, and the careless the busy and industrious.
HoraceWhatever you teach, be brief; what is quickly said, the mind readily receives and faithfully retains, everything superfluous runs over as from a full vessel.
HoraceAll singers have this fault: if asked to sing among friends they are never so inclined; if unasked, they never leave off.
Horace