Discover the timeless wisdom of a Roman master with our curated collection of Horace quotes. Whether you seek motivational quotes to spark ambition or inspirational quotes for daily reflection, his verses deliver. Dive into these positive quotes and profound life quotes to find enduring guidance from antiquity’s greatest poet.
“Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. It is lovely to be silly at the right moment.” — Horace
“Great effort is required to arrest decay and restore vigor. One must exercise proper deliberation, plan carefully before making a move, and be alert in guarding against relapse following a renaissance.” — Horace
“Nothing’s beautiful from every point of view.” — Horace
“Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it.” — Horace
“No verse can give pleasure for long, nor last, that is written by drinkers of water.” — Horace
“Time will bring to light whatever is hidden; it will cover up and conceal what is now shining in splendor.” — Horace
“A picture is a poem without words.” — Horace
“Cease to inquire what the future has in store, and take as a gift whatever the day brings forth.” — Horace
“He has the deed half done who has made a beginning.” — Horace
“When things are steep, remember to stay level-headed.” — Horace
“Mountains will go into labour, and a silly little mouse will be born.” — Horace
“Don’t think, just do.” — Horace
“You may drive out nature with a pitchfork, yet she’ll be constantly running back.” — Horace
“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” — Horace
“The foolish are like ripples on water, For whatsoever they do is quickly effaced; But the righteous are like carvings upon stone, For their smallest act is durable.” — Horace
“The pen is the tongue of the mind.” — Horace
“To have a great man for a friend seems pleasant to those who have never tried it; those who have, fear it.” — Horace
“One wanders to the left, another to the right. Both are equally in error, but, are seduced by different delusions.” — Horace
“Poets wish to profit or to please.” — Horace
“If you would have me weep, you must first of all feel grief yourself.” — Horace
“I teach that all men are mad.” — Horace
“Pale death, with impartial step, knocks at the hut of the poor and the towers of kings.” — Horace
“Whatever advice you give, be short.” — Horace
“Suffering is but another name for the teaching of experience, which is the parent of instruction and the schoolmaster of life.” — Horace
“Refrain from asking what going to happen tomorrow, and everyday that fortune grants you, count as gain.” — Horace
“No poems can please for long or live that are written by water drinkers.” — Horace
“Remember when life’s path is steep to keep your mind even.” — Horace
“A word once uttered can never be recalled.” — Horace
“Life grants nothing to us mortals without hard work.” — Horace
“It is when I struggle to be brief that I become obscure.” — Horace
“He tosses aside his paint-pots and his words a foot and a half long.” — Horace
“The one who cannot restrain their anger will wish undone, what their temper and irritation prompted them to do.” — Horace
“Your own safety is at stake when your neighbor’s wall is ablaze.” — Horace
“He is armed without who is innocent within, be this thy screen, and this thy wall of brass.” — Horace
“Undeservedly you will atone for the sins of your fathers.” — Horace
“We are just statistics, born to consume resources.” — Horace
“Begin, be bold and venture to be wise.” — Horace
“The lofty pine is oftenest shaken by the winds; High towers fall with a heavier crash; And the lightning strikes the highest mountain.” — Horace
“Anger is a short madness.” — Horace
“Whoever cultivates the golden mean avoids both the poverty of a hovel and the envy of a palace.” — Horace
“Only a stomach that rarely feels hungry scorns common things.” — Horace
“It is courage, courage, courage, that raises the blood of life to crimson splendor. Live bravely and present a brave front to adversity.” — Horace
“Pale Death beats equally at the poor man’s gate and at the palaces of kings.” — Horace
“While fools shun one set of faults they run into the opposite one.” — Horace
“Fidelity is the sister of justice.” — Horace
“Usually the modest person passes for someone reserved, the silent for a sullen person.” — Horace
“Money is a handmaiden, if thou knowest how to use it; a mistress, if thou knowest not.” — Horace
“Few cross the river of time and are able to reach non-being. Most of them run up and down only on this side of the river. But those who when they know the law follow the path of the law, they shall reach the other shore and go beyond the realm of death.” — Horace
“You must avoid sloth, that wicked siren.” — Horace
“A word, once sent abroad, flies irrevocably.” — Horace
“Fortune makes a fool of those she favors too much.” — Horace
“Choose a subject equal to your abilities; think carefully what your shoulders may refuse, and what they are capable of bearing.” — Horace
“The envious man grows lean at the success of his neighbor.” — Horace
“Seize the day, and put the least possible trust in tomorrow.” — Horace
“He who postpones the hour of living is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.” — Horace
“You traverse the world in search of happiness, which is within the reach of every man. A contented mind confers it on all.” — Horace
“A heart well prepared for adversity in bad times hopes, and in good times fears for a change in fortune.” — Horace
“Sad people dislike the happy, and the happy the sad; the quick thinking the sedate, and the careless the busy and industrious.” — Horace
“The disgrace of others often keeps tender minds from vice.” — Horace
“The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.” — Horace
“I never think at all when I write.” — Horace
“Nobody can do two things at the same time and do them both well.” — Horace
“Once a word has been allowed to escape, it cannot be recalled.” — Horace
“If a man’s fortune does not fit him, it is like the shoe in the story; if too large it trips him up, if too small it pinches him.” — Horace
“A host is like a general: calamities often reveal his genius.” — Horace
“Labor diligently to increase your property.” — Horace
“I hate the irreverent rabble and keep them far from me.” — Horace
“Strange—is it not? That of the myriads who before us passed the door of Darkness through, not one returns to tell us of the road which to discover we must travel too.” — Horace
“It is your business when the wall next door catches fire.” — Horace
“I strive to be brief but I become obscure.” — Horace
“It is your concern when your neighbor’s wall is on fire.” — Horace
“Life is largely a matter of expectation.” — Horace
“Every old poem is sacred.” — Horace
“It is the false shame of fools to try to conceal wounds that have not healed.” — Horace
“Leave the rest to the gods.” — Horace
“He who would begin has half done. Dare to be wise; begin.” — Horace
“Wisdom is not wisdom when it is derived from books alone.” — Horace
“In adversity remember to keep an even mind.” — Horace
“It is a sweet and seemly thing to die for one’s country.” — Horace
“This is a fault common to all singers, that among their friends they will never sing when they are asked; unasked, they will never desist.” — Horace
“The power of daring anything their fancy suggests, has always been conceded to the painter and the poet.” — Horace
“It’s a good thing to be foolishly gay once in a while.” — Horace
“We are free to yield to truth.” — Horace
“We are often deterred from crime by the disgrace of others.” — Horace
“If matters go badly now, they will not always be so.” — Horace
“Good sense is both the first principal and the parent source of good writing.” — Horace
“It is of no consequence of what parents a man is born, as long as he be a man of merit.” — Horace
“Why do you hasten to remove anything which hurts your eye, while if something affects your soul you postpone the cure until next year?” — Horace
“He has not lived badly whose birth and death has been unnoticed by the world.” — Horace
“Who then is free? The wise man who can command himself.” — Horace
“Knowledge without education is but armed injustice.” — Horace
“It is no great art to say something briefly when, like Tacitus, one has something to say; when one has nothing to say, however, and nonetheless writes a whole book and makes truth into a liar—that I call an achievement.” — Horace
“It is your concern when your neighbor’s wall is on fire.” — Horace
“Make a good use of the present.” — Horace
“What we learn only through the ears makes less impression upon our minds than what is presented to the trustworthy eye.” — Horace
“Let your literary compositions be kept from the public eye for nine years at least.” — Horace
“Lawyers are men who hire out their words and anger.” — Horace
“Subdue your passion or it will subdue you.” — Horace
“Words will not fail when the matter is well considered.” — Horace
“We rarely find anyone who can say he has lived a happy life, and who, content with his life, can retire from the world like a satisfied guest.” — Horace
“Why harass with eternal purposes a mind too weak to grasp them?” — Horace
“Clogged with yesterday’s excess, the body drags the mind down with it.” — Horace
“O imitators, you slavish herd!” — Horace
“Avoid inquisitive persons, for they are sure to be gossips; their ears are open to hear, but they will not keep what is entrusted to them.” — Horace
“The man is either mad, or he is making verses.” — Horace
“A good and faithful judge ever prefers the honorable to the expedient.” — Horace
“In labouring to be concise, I become obscure.” — Horace
“He gains everyone’s approval who mixes the pleasant with the useful.” — Horace
“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.” — Horace