Ovid Quotes

Well has he lived who has lived well in obscurity.

What makes men indifferent to their wives is that they can see them when they please.

The purpose of law is to prevent the strong always having their way.

By looking at squinting people you learn to squint.

Minds that are ill at ease are agitated by both hope and fear.

The high-spirited man may indeed die, but he will not stoop to meanness. Fire, though it may be quenched, will not become cool.

We are charmed by neatness: Let not your hair be out of order. [Lat., Munditiis capimur: non sine lege capilli.]

There is nothing in the whole world which abides. All things are in a state of ebb and flow, and every shadow passes away. Even time itself, like a river, is constantly gliding away .

Love and dignity do not dwell together.

Lovers remember everything. [Lat., Meminerunt omnia amantes.]

A good disposition is a virtue in itself, and it is lasting; the burden of the years cannot depress it, and love that is founded on it endures to the end.

This letter gives me a tongue; and were I not allowed to write, I should be dumb. [Lat., Praebet mihi littera linguam: Et, si non liceat scribere, mutus ero.]

I flee who chases me and chase who flees me.

Remove the temptation of idleness and Cupid's bow is useless.

Change is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast. In the pool where you least expect it, will be a fish.

To wish is of little account; to succeed you must earnestly desire; and this desire must shorten thy sleep.

Beauty is a frail good.

Thou seest how sloth wastes the sluggish body, as water is corrupted unless it moves.

Misfortunes often sharpen the genius.

The bold adventurer succeeds the best.

Happy the man who can count his sufferings.

The vulgar crowd values friends according to their usefulness.

At times it is folly to hasten at other times, to delay. The wise do everything in its proper time.

The brave find a home in every land.

If you are not ready today, you will be even less so tomorrow.

When a rose dies, a thorn is left behind.

Occupy yourself, and you will be out of harm's way.

Bear and endure: This sorrow will one day prove to be for your good.

Take away leisure and Cupid's bow is broken

Burdens become light when cheerfully borne.

All things change, nothing perishes.

What is harder than rock, or softer than water? Yet soft water hollows out hard rock. Persevere.

Be bold, take courage... and be strong of soul

He who has lived obscurely and quietly has lived well.

Great talents, by the rust of long disuse, Grow lethargic and shrink from what they were.

That you may please others you must be forgetful of yourself.

Work while your strength and years permit you; crooked age will by-and-by come upon you with silent foot.

There is no excellence uncoupled with difficulties.

Wine gives courage and makes men more apt for passion.

Deadly poisons are concealed under sweet honey.

Envy, the meanest of vices, creeps on the ground like a serpent.

A ruler should be slow to punish and swift to reward.

You will be melancholy, if you are solitary.

He, who is not prepared today, will be less so tomorrow.

Every lover is a soldier.

Let the man who does not wish to be idle, fall in love.

As God is propitiated by the blood of a hundred bulls, so also is he by the smallest offering of incense. [Lat., Sed tamen ut fuso taurorum sanguine centum, Sic capitur minimo thuris honore deux.]

We are slow to believe that which if believed would hurt our feelings.

Perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim. Have patience and endure; this unhappiness will one day be beneficial.

The result proves the wisdom of the act.