A quotation from Horace

Good Homer sometimes nods, which gives me a jerk —
But sleep may well worm its way into any long work!
 
                                                            [Et idem
indignor, quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus;
verum operi longo fas est obrepere somnum.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 2, ep. 3 “Art of Poetry [Ars Poetica; To the Pisos],” l. 358ff (2.3.358-360) (19 BC) [tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/14656/

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A quotation from Horace

Dear sire, and offspring worthy of your fire!
We bards are dupes to what ourselves admire.
Would I be brief — I grow confused and coarse;
Who aims at smoothness, fails in fire and force;
In him who soars aloft, bombast is found;
Who fears to face the tempest, crawls aground.
Who courts variety and fain would ring
A thousand changes on the self-same string,
Will paint, as ’twere in fancy’s wildest mood
Boars in the wave and dolphins in the wood.
Thus even error, shun’d without address,
Breeds error, diff’rent in its kind, not less.
 
[Maxima pars vatum, pater et iuvenes patre digni,
decipimur specie recti: brevis esse laboro,
obscurus fio; sectantem levia nervi
deficiunt animique; professus grandia turget;
serpit humi tutus nimium timidusque procellae:
qui variare cupit rem prodigialiter unam,
delphinum silvis adpingit, fluctibus aprum:
in vitium ducit culpae fuga, si caret arte.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 2, ep. 3 “Art of Poetry [Ars Poetica; To the Pisos],” l. 24ff (2.3.24-31) (19 BC) [tr. Howes (1845)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/14582/

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A quotation from Horace

Fortune nor home not more the man can cheer,
Who lives a prey to covetise or fear,
Than may a picture’s richest hues delight
Eyes that with dropping rheum are thick of sight,
Or warm soft lotions soothe a gout-racked foot,
Or aching ears be charmed by twangling lute.
On minds unquiet joy has lost its power;
In a foul vessel everything turns sour.
 
[Qui cupit aut metuit, iuvat ilium sic domus et res,
Ut lippum pictae tabulae, fomenta podagrum,
Auriculas citbarae collecta sorde dolentes.
Sincerumst nisi vas, quodcumque infundis acescit
Sperne voluptate.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 2 “To Lollius,” l. 51ff (1.2.51-54) (14 BC) [tr. Martin (1881)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/82248/

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A quotation from Horace

Let the man who has acquired Enough not ask for MORE.
A house and acreage, a pile of bronze and gold coins,
Have never been able to lower the sick man’s fever
Or drive out his worries. The proprietor must be well
If he plans to enjoy the good things he’s gathered together.
 
[Quod satis est cui contingit, nihil amplius optet.
Non domus et fundus, non aeris acervus et auri
Aegroto doniini deduxit corpore febres,
on animo curas; valeat possessor oportet,
Si conpertatis rebus bene cogitat uti.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 2 “To Lollius,” l. 46ff (1.2.46-50) (14 BC) [tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/82038/

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A quotation from Horace

We learn more quickly and bring back to mind more readily
The things we laugh at than those we respect and revere.
 
[Discit enim citius, meminitque libentius ilud
Quod quis deridet, quam quod probat et veneratur.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 2, ep. 1 “To Augustus,” l. 262ff (2.1.262-263) (14 BC) [tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/81900/

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A quotation from Horace

Years foll’wing Years, steal something ev’ry day,
At last they steal us from our selves away;
In one our Frolicks, one Amusements end,
In one a Mistress drops, in one a Friend:
This subtle Thief of Life, this paltry Time,
What will it leave me, if it snatch my Rhime?
 
[Singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes;
eripuere iocos, Venerem, convivia, ludum;
tendunt extorquere poemata: quid faciam vis?]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 2, ep. 2 “To Julius Florus,” l. 55ff (2.2.55-57) (14 BC) [tr. Pope (1737)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/14802/

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A quotation from Horace

When thy next neighbours house is all on fire,
’Tis thy concern to make his flames expire;
For fire will gather strength if let alone,
And with thy neighbours house burn down thine owne.
 
[Nam tua res agitur, paries cum proximus ardet.
Et neglecta solent incendia sumere vires.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 18 “To Lollius,” l. 84ff (1.18.84-85) (20 BC) [tr. A. B.; ed. Brome (1666)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/1958/

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A quotation from Horace

To go on with my advice (that is, supposing
You need advice from me): Be careful about
The things you say and the people to whom you say them.
Avoid the man who asks too many questions.
No question but he’ll be a teller of tales;
An ear that eager can’t keep a secret for long,
And once a word slips out it won’t come back.
 
[Protinus ut moneam (si quid monitoris eges tu)
quid de quoque viro et cui dicas, saepe videto,
percontatorem fugito: nam garrulus idem est,
nec retinent patulae commissa fideliter aures,
et semel emissum volat irrevocabile verbum.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 18 “Lollius,” l. 67ff (1.18.67-71) (20 BC) [tr. Ferry (2001)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/20802/

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A quotation from Horace

Away with complaints; for he is not poor, who has enough of things to use. If stomach, lungs, and feet are all in health, the wealth of kings can give you nothing more.
 
                                       [Tolle querellas:
Pauper enim non est, cui rerum suppetit usus.
si ventri bene, si lateri est pedibusque tuis, nil
divitiae poterunt regales addere maius.]

Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 12 “To Iccius,” l. 4ff (1.12.4-6) (20 BC) [tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/14417/

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