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I would advise him who wishes to imitate well, to look closely into life and manners, and thereby to learn to express them with truth.

Respicere exemplar vitæ morumque jubebo
Doctum imitatorem, et veras hinc ducere voces.

Original text (Latin)

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More quotes by Horace

To flee vice is the beginning of virtue, and to have got rid of folly is the beginning of wisdom.

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He wins every hand who mingles profit with pleasure, by delighting and instructing the reader at the same time.

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What odds does it make to the man who lives within Nature's bounds, whether he ploughs a hundred acres or a thousand?

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He who has begun has half done. Dare to be wise; begin!

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Attribution

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.