Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus, known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus. The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his Odes as just about the only Latin lyrics worth reading: "He can be lofty sometimes, yet he is also full of charm and grace, versatile in his figures, and felicitously daring in his choice of words."...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionPoet
speak difficult universal
It is difficult to speak of the universal specifically.
folks small-things
Small things become small folks.
horse car where-you-are
The horse would plough, the ox would drive the car. No; do the work you know, and tarry where you are.
mind spills superfluous
Superfluous words simply spill out when the mind is already full.
art stupid wine
O drink is mighty! secrets it unlocks, Turns hope to fact, sets cowards on to box, Takes burdens from the careworn, finds out parts In stupid folks, and teaches unknown arts. What tongue hangs fire when quickened by the bowl? What wretch so poor but wine expands his soul?
secret virtue pleasure
If virtue holds the secret, don't defer; Be off with pleasure, and be on with her.
too-much pleasure good-things
Take too much pleasure in good things, you'll feel The shock of adverse fortune makes you reel.
fall grief passion
Joy, grief, desire or fear, whate'er the name The passion bears, its influence is the same; Where things exceed your hope or fall below, You stare, look blank, grow numb from top to toe.
madness
Anger is brief madness
noble wealth descent
Noble descent and worth, unless united with wealth, are esteemed no more than seaweed.
honor riches wealth
For everything divine and human, virtue, fame, and honor, now obey the alluring influence of riches.
riches wealth
Riches either serve or govern the possessor.
pleasure source
Let the fictitious sources of pleasure be as near as possible to the true.
painting
A poem is like a painting.