Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso, known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, 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. He enjoyed enormous popularity, but, in one of the mysteries of literary history, he was sent by Augustus into exile...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionPoet
has-beens
That which never has been, never is, and never will be.
long lasts
That, which has not its alternation of rest, will not last long.
mind toil body
Rest strengthens the body, the mind too is thus supported; but unremitting toil destroys both.
ancestry pedigree
Pedigree and ancestry and what we ourselves have not achieved, I scarcely recognize as our own.
swim might foolish
He is a foolish swimmer who swims against the stream, when he might take the current sideways.
weapons strikes hard
I too am not powerless, and my weapons strike hard.
hours
Imperceptibly the hours glide on, and beguile us as they pass.
helping fallen
It is a kingly act to help the fallen.
silence matter faults
It is but a small merit to observe silence, but it is a grave fault to speak of matters on which we should be silent.
bears prosperity easy
It is not easy to bear prosperity unruffled.
together dignity
Love and dignity do not dwell together.
milk produce crops
Our neighbour's crop is always more fruitful and his cattle produce more milk than our own.
events judged
The act is judged of by the event.
beauty doors age
Beauty, if you do not open your doors, takes age from lack of use.