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
obscure brevity
Aiming at brevity, I become obscure.
struggle obscure ends
When I struggle to be terse, I end by being obscure.
work obscure recreation
In labouring to be brief, I become obscure.
light confusion obscure
Not to create confusion in what is clear, but to throw light on what is obscure.
trying obscure concise
In trying to be concise I become obscure.
speech obscure concise
In laboring to be concise, I become obscure. [Lat., Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.]
obscure strive miscellaneous
I strive to be brief, and become obscure.
guilty pale secrets turn wall
Be this your wall of brass, to have no guilty secrets, no wrong-doing that makes you turn pale
labor mountains mouse ridiculous
The mountains will be in labor, and a ridiculous mouse will be born.
crazy fools-and-foolishness
As crazy as hauling timber into the woods.
avoid cottage favourites greatness happiness kings
Avoid greatness; in a cottage there may be more real happiness than kings or their favourites enjoy.
bowl soul troubles within
Bacchus drowns within the bowl - Troubles that corrode the soul
fond illusion mock
Do you hear, or does some fond illusion mock me?
fools-and-foolishness good mix silly
Mix a little foolishness with your prudence: it's good to be silly at the right moment. (Odes, bk. 4, no. 12, l. 27)