Horace - Epistles

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Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant.

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

Horace
Barefaced poverty drove me to writing verses.

Horace
To marvel at nothing is just about the one and only thing, Numicius, that can make a man happy and keep him that way.

Horace
Make money, money by fair means if you can, if not, by any means money.

Horace
It is not the least praise to have pleased leading men. Not everyone is lucky enough to get to Corinth.

Horace
No poems can please for long or live that are written by water-drinkers.

Horace
We belabour each other, and with tit for tat use up our foe, like Samnites, in a long-drawn bout, till the first lamps are lighted.
Of literary battles

Horace
For it is your business, when the wall next door catches fire.

Horace
He is not poor who has enough of things to use. If it is well with your belly, chest and feet, the wealth of kings can give you nothing more.

Horace
Let hopes and sorrows, fears and angers be, And think each day that dawns the last you'll see; For so the hour that greets you unforeseen Will bring with it enjoyment twice as keen.

Horace
Whatever madness their kings commit, the Greeks take the beating.

Horace
Let a play have five acts, neither more nor less.

Horace
How light, how small is the thing which casts down or restores a mind greedy for praise.

Horace
Look round and round the man you recommend, For yours will be the shame should he offend.

Horace
Believe each day that has dawned is your last. Some hour to which you have not been looking forward will prove lovely. As for me, if you want a good laugh, you will come and find me fat and sleek, in excellent condition, one of Epicurus's herd of pigs.

Horace
I have to put up with a lot, to please the touchy breed of poets.

Horace
The happy state of winning the palm without the dust of racing.

Horace
It is sensible to dismiss the old horse in good time, lest, failing at the last, he makes the spectators laugh.

Horace
Taught or untaught, we all scribble poetry.

Horace
And seek for truth in the groves of Academe.

Horace
To have a great man for an intimate friend seems pleasant to those who have never tried it; those who have, fear it.

Horace
It is when I struggle to be brief that I become obscure.

Horace
It is your concern when your neighbor's wall is on fire.

Horace
Think to yourself that every day is your last; the hour to which you do not look forward will come as a welcome surprise.

Horace
For why do you hasten to remove things that hurt your eyes, but if anything gnaws your mind, defer the time of curing it from year to year?

Horace
You have played enough; you have eaten and drunk enough. Now it is time for you to depart.

Horace
One goes to the right, the other to the left; both are wrong, but in different directions.

Horace
You may turn nature out of doors with violence, but she will still return.

Horace
As they put it in Greek, we simply don't COUNT. We consume.

Horace