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
hurt believe feelings
We are slow to believe that which if believed would hurt our feelings.
love-and-friendship dignity share
Love and dignity cannot share the same abode.
deny should ifs
If he should love deny him what he loves!
names empty losing-friendship
Friendship is but a name; fidelity but an empty name.
strong lying moving
Wine, not too much, inspires and make the mind,to the soft joys of Venus strong inclined,which, buried in excess, unapt to love,stupidly lies and knows not hom to move
death here-and-there spirit
Thus all things altered. Nothing dies. And here and there the unbodied spirit flies.
running horse night
Lente, lente currite, noctis equi. Translation: Run slowly, slowly, horses of the night.
giving genius
Giving calls for genius.
generosity giver values
The gift derives its value from the rank of the giver.
strong fall ruins
All things human hang by a slender thread; and that which seemed to stand strong suddenly falls and sinks in ruins.
death evil kind
An evil life is a kind of death.
teaching enemy taught
It is lawful to be taught by an enemy. Fas est ab hoste doceri.
art teaching men
Adde, quod ingénues didicisse fideliter artes Emollit mores, nec sinit esse fervos. To be instructed in the arts, softens the manners and makes men gentle.
wine eye blood
It warms the blood, adds luster to the eyes, and wine and love have ever been allies.