Horace Quotes (page 4)

65-8 BC, Italian Poet
quotes
116
topics
12
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“He is armed without who is innocent within, be this thy screen, and this thy wall of brass.”
Innocence
“Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. It is lovely to be silly at the right moment.”
Fools and Foolishness
“The power of daring anything their fancy suggest, as always been conceded to the painter and the poet.”
Risk
“Refrain from asking what going to happen tomorrow, and everyday that fortune grants you, count as gain.”
Life and Living
“A heart well prepared for adversity in bad times hopes, and in good times fears for a change in fortune.”
Adversity
“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.”
Adversity
“He who has made it a practice to lie and deceive his father, will be the most daring in deceiving others.”
Deception
“To have a great man for a friend seems pleasant to those who have never tried it; those who have, fear it.”
Greatness
“Does he council you better who bids you, ''Money, by right means, if you can: but by any means, make money ?”
Money
“The one who cannot restrain their anger will wish undone, what their temper and irritation prompted them to do.”
Anger
“One wanders to the left, another to the right. Both are equally in error, but, are seduced by different delusions.”
Politicians and Politics
“One gains universal applause who mingles the useful with the agreeable, at once delighting and instructing the reader.”
Writers and Writing
“What we learn only through the ears makes less impression upon our minds than what is presented to the trustworthy eye.”
Eyes
“You traverse the world in search of happiness, which is within the reach of every man. A contented mind confers it on all.”
Happiness
“Sad people dislike the happy, and the happy the sad; the quick thinking the sedate, and the careless the busy and industrious.”
People
“If a man's fortune does not fit him, it is like the shoe in the story; if too large it trips him up, if too small it pinches him.”
Fortune
“The lofty pine is oftenest shaken by the winds; High towers fall with a heavier crash; And the lightning strikes the highest mountain.”
Fate
“A shoe that is too large is apt to trip one, and when too small, to pinch the feet. So it is with those whose fortune does not suit them.”
Work
“Avoid inquisitive persons, for they are sure to be gossips, their ears are open to hear, but they will not keep what is entrusted to them.”
Gossip
“This is a fault common to all singers, that among their friends they will never sing when they are asked; unasked, they will never desist.”
Song and Singing
“Many heroes lived before Agamemnon; but all are unknown and unwept, extinguished in everlasting night, because they have no spirited chronicler.”
Biography
“A portion of mankind take pride in their vices and pursue their purpose; many more waver between doing what is right and complying with what is wrong.”
Vice
“You who write, choose a subject suited to your abilities and think long and hard on what your powers are equal to and what they are unable to perform.”
Writers and Writing
“How does it happen, Maecenas, that no one is content with that lot of which he has chosen or which chance has thrown his way, but praises those who follow a different course?”
Praise
“You must often make erasures if you mean to write what is worthy of being read a second time; and don't labor for the admiration of the crowd, but be content with a few choice readers.”
Writers and Writing
“Who then is free? The one who wisely is lord of themselves, who neither poverty, death or captivity terrify, who is strong to resist his appetites and shun honors, and is complete in themselves smooth and round like a globe.”
Freedom