Explore popular quotes and sayings by a Roman poet Ovid.
Last updated on October 10, 2024.
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō, known in English as Ovid, was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature. The Imperial scholar Quintilian considered him the last of the Latin love elegists. Although Ovid enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime, the emperor Augustus banished him to a remote province on the Black Sea, where he remained a decade until his death.
Fair peace becomes men; ferocious anger belongs to beasts.
A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow.
Nothing is more powerful than custom or habit.
There is more refreshment and stimulation in a nap, even of the briefest, than in all the alcohol ever distilled.
The man who has experienced shipwreck shudders even at a calm sea.
Fortune and love favor the brave.
Everything comes gradually and at its appointed hour.
The sharp thorn often produces delicate roses.
You can learn from anyone even your enemy.
Alas! how difficult it is not to betray one's guilt by one's looks.
Time, the devourer of all things.
In our leisure we reveal what kind of people we are.
Let your hook be always cast. In the pool where you least expect it, will be fish.
A man is sorry to be honest for nothing.
Most safely shall you tread the middle path.
Venus favors the bold.
What is without periods of rest will not endure.
Death is less bitter punishment than death's delay.
The bold adventurer succeeds the best.
A horse never runs so fast as when he has other horses to catch up and outpace.
The lamp burns bright when wick and oil are clean.
Art lies by its own artifice.
First thing every morning before you arise say out loud, 'I believe,' three times.
Love is a kind of warfare.
Chance is always powerful. Let your hook always be cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be fish.
Happy are those who dare courageously to defend what they love.
Medicine sometimes snatches away health, sometimes gives it.
The cause is hidden; the effect is visible to all.
Happy is the man who has broken the chains which hurt the mind, and has given up worrying once and for all.
It is convenient that there be gods, and, as it is convenient, let us believe there are.
Endure and persist; this pain will turn to good by and by.
Habits change into character.
Often they benefit who suffer wrong.
Love and dignity cannot share the same abode.
My hopes are not always realized, but I always hope.
Bear and endure: This sorrow will one day prove to be for your good.
Let others praise ancient times; I am glad I was born in these.
Luck affects everything. Let your hook always be cast; in the stream where you least expect it there will be a fish.
The burden which is well borne becomes light.
First appearance deceives many.
If any person wish to be idle, let them fall in love.
Neglect of appearance becomes men.
It is annoying to be honest to no purpose.
If you want to be loved, be lovable.
Take rest; a field that has rested gives a beautiful crop.
Time is generally the best doctor.
Jupiter from on high smiles at the perjuries of lovers.
Bear patiently with a rival.
Every lover is a soldier.
We are ever striving after what is forbidden, and coveting what is denied us.
To feel our ills is one thing, but to cure them is another.
Like fragile ice anger passes away in time.
Make the workmanship surpass the materials.
There is no such thing as pure pleasure; some anxiety always goes with it.
At times it is folly to hasten at other times, to delay. The wise do everything in its proper time.
Beauty is a fragile gift.
Courage conquers all things: it even gives strength to the body.
Nowadays nothing but money counts: a fortune brings honors, friendships; the poor man everywhere lies low.
It is the poor man who'll ever count his flock.
Give way to your opponent; thus will you gain the crown of victory.