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Come, Mercury, by whose minstrel spell
Amphion raised the Theban stones,
Come, with thy seven sweet strings, my shell,
Thy "diverse tones,"
Nor vocal once nor pleasant, now
To rich man's board and temple dear:
Put forth thy power, till Lyde bow Her stubborn ear.

— Horace Odes (-23)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Book III, ode xi

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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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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!

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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.