Ovid Quotes

In sweet water there is a pleasure ungrudged by anyone.

Grant me profits only, grant me the joy of profit made, and see to it that I enjoy cheating the buyer!

The gods favor the bold.

Tempus edax rerum. Time that devours all things.

Beauty- it was a favor bestowed by the gods.

Art lies in concealing art.

No man provokes me with impunity.

For in this strange anatomy we wear, the head has greater powers than the hand; the spirit, heart, and mind are over all.

The rest of the crowd were friends of my fortune, not of me. [Lat., Caetera fortunae, non mea, turba fuit.]

Sleep, nature's rest, divine tranquility, That brings peace to the mind.

Some people think that because they do the opposite of what they are asked to do, they have initiative

Majesty and love do not well agree, nor do they live together.

The art of medicine in the season lies: Wine given in season oft will benefit, Which out of season injures.

By constant dripping, water hollows stone, A signet-ring from use alone grows thin, And the curved plowshare by soft earth is worn.

Love is a thing full of anxious fears.

Face troubles from their birth, for 'tis too late to cure When long delay has given the evil strength. Haste then; postpone not to the coming hour: tomorrow He'll be less ready who's not ready now.

Who gives to Aristaeus honey; Or wine to Bacchus, or Triptolemus Earth's fruits, or apples to Alcinous?

In an easy cause anyone can be eloquent; the slightest strength is enough to break what is already shattered.

Let love steal in disguised as friendship.

A lover fears all that he believes.

Hate I shall, if I can; if I can't, I shall love though not willing.

Our neighbour's crop is always more fruitful and his cattle produce more milk than our own.

Whether they yield or refuse, it delights women to have been asked.

In war the olive branch of peace is of use. [Lat., Adjuvat in bello pacatae ramus olivae.]

The ungovernable passion for wealth. [Lat., Opum furiata cupido.]

Though the strength is lacking, yet the willingness is commendable.

There is no need of words; believe facts. [Lat., Non opus est verbis, credite rebus.]

Winged time glides on insensibly, and deceive us; and there is nothing more fleeting than years.

Today is truly the Golden Age: gold buys hornor, gold procures love

Let ancient times delight other folk, I rejoice that I was not born till now.

Thus all things altered. Nothing dies. And here and there the unbodied spirit flies.

Whatever charm thou hast, be charming.

What is now an act of reason, was but blind impulse.

She only is chaste, who is chaste where there is no danger of detection: she who does not, because she may not, does.

It is the mind that makes the man, and our vigour is in our immortal soul.

I see and approve better things, but follow worse.

That, which has not its alternation of rest, will not last long.

Eurydice, dying now a second time, uttered no complaint against her husband. What was there to complain of, but that she had been loved?

Very slight violence will break that which has once been cracked.

Giving calls for genius.

What is harder than stone? What more soft than water? Nevertheless hard though the rock be, it is hollowed by the wave.

I hate, and yet must love the thing I hate.

Struggling over my fickle heart, love draws it now this way, and now hate that--but love, I think, is winning. I will hate, if I have strength; if not, I shall love unwilling.

Destroy our leisure and you break love's bow.

Ovid lies here, the poet, skilled in love's gentle sport; By his own talents he worked his undoing. Oh, you who pass by, if ever you have loved, Think it not a burden to wish him calm repose.

You put aside the work that's done, and seek some work to do.

Time was when genius was more precious than gold, but now to have nothing is monstrous barbarism.

The earth yields up her stores, of every ill The instigators; iron, foe to man, And gold, than iron deadlier.

The applause and the favour of our fellow-men Fan even a spark of genius to a flame.

All-devouring time, envious age, Nought can escape you, and by slow degrees, Worn by your teeth, all things will lingering die.