Horace Quotes

carpe diem (seize the day)

Enjoy! Enjoy!

What you have not published, you can destroy. The word once sent forth can never be recalled.

Of writing well, be sure, the secret lies
In wisdom :therefore study to be wise.

Not him with great possessions should you in truth call blest; with better right does he claim the name of happy man who realizes how to make use of the gods' gifts wisely, is skilled to meet harsh poverty and endure, as one who dreads dishonor far more than death; a man like that for friends beloved, or for his country fears not to perish.

Treacherous ashes hide
The fires through which you stride

A cultivated wit, one that badgers less, can persuade all the more. Artful ridicule can address contentious issues more competently and vigorously than can severity alone.

"He will through life be master of himself and a happy man who from day to day can have said, "I have lived: tomorrow the Father may fill the sky with black clouds or with cloudless sunshine.

It is courage, courage, courage, that raises the blood of life to crimson splendor. Live bravely and present a brave front to adversity.

Either stick to tradition or see that your inventions be consistent.

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.

So, if you don't summon a book and a light before dawn,
If you don't set your mind on honest aims and pursuits,
On waking, you'll be tortured by envy or lust.
Why so quick to remove a speck from your eye, when
If it's your mind, you put off the cure till next year?
Who's started has half finished: dare to be wise: begin!

Nie pytaj próżno, bo nikt się nie dowie.
Jaki nam koniec gotują bogowie,
I babilońskich nie pytaj wróżbiarzy.
Lepiej tak przyjąć wszystko, jak się zdarzy.
A czy z rozkazu Jowisza ta zima,
Co teraz wichrem wełny morskie wzdyma,
Będzie ostatnia, czy też nam przysporzy
Lat jeszcze kilka tajny wyrok boży,
Nie troszcz się o to i ... klaruj swe wina.
Mknie rok za rokiem, jak jedna godzina.
Wiec łap dzień każdy, a nie wierz ni trochę
W złudnej przyszłości obietnice płoche.
~Horacy
przeł.: Henryk Sienkiewicz

There are words and accents by which this grief can be assuaged, and the disease in a great measure removed.

Nunc est bibendum!

I had rather seem mad and a sluggard, so that my defects are agreeable to myself, or that I am not pinfully conscious of them, than be wise, and chaptious.