Original text (Latin)
To flee vice is the beginning of virtue, and to have got rid of folly is the beginning of wisdom.
The mountains will be in labor, and a ridiculous mouse will be brought forth.
To sin by silence, when we should protest,
Makes cowards out of men.
Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact.
There are times when good words are to be left unsaid out of esteem for silence.
Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Horace (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.