314 quotes
To flee vice is the beginning of virtue, and to have got rid of folly is the beginning of wisdom.
Epistles (-20)
He wins every hand who mingles profit with pleasure, by delighting and instructing the reader at the same time.
Ars Poetica, or The Epistle to the Pisones (-18)
What odds does it make to the man who lives within Nature's bounds, whether he ploughs a hundred acres or a thousand?
Satires (-35)
The mountains will be in labor, and a ridiculous mouse will be brought forth.
Ars Poetica, or The Epistle to the Pisones (-18)
He who has begun has half done. Dare to be wise; begin!
Epistles (-20)
I have made a monument more lasting than bronze.
Odes (-23)
Then take, good sir, your pleasure while you may;
With life so short 'twere wrong to lose a day.
Satires (-35)
O Fortune, cruellest of heavenly powers,
Why make such game of this poor life of ours?
Satires (-35)
To have a great man for an intimate friend seems pleasant to those who have never tried it; those who have, fear it.
Epistles (-20)
Think to yourself that every day is your last; the hour to which you do not look forward will come as a welcome surprise.
Epistles (-20)
Now is the time for drinking, now the time to dance footloose upon the earth.
Odes (-23)
Death takes the mean man with the proud;
The fatal urn has room for all.
Odes (-23)
Nothing is beautiful from every point of view.
For joys fall not to the rich alone, nor has he lived ill, who from birth to death has passed unknown.
Epistles (-20)
Often must you turn your pencil to erase, if you hope to write something worth a second reading.
Satires (-35)
Time will bring to light whatever is hidden; it will cover up and conceal what is now shining in splendor.
Mere grace is not enough: a play should thrill
The hearer's soul, and move it at its will.
Ars Poetica, or The Epistle to the Pisones (-18)
God perchance will by a happy change restore these things to a settled condition.
You may drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she still will hurry back.
Epistles (-20)
What impropriety or limit can there be in our grief for a man so beloved?