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
passion way reason
Passion persuades me one way, reason another. I see the better and approve it, but I follow the worse.
way disposition treats
Treat a thousand dispositions in a thousand ways.
character envy way
Envy, slothful vice, Never makes its way in lofty characters, But, like the skulking viper, creeps and crawls Close to the ground.
giving safety way
Let love give way to business; give attention to business and you will be safe.
desire way different
I am dragged along by a strange new force. Desire and reason are pulling in different directions. I see the right way and approve it, but follow the wrong.
occupy-yourself way harm
Occupy yourself, and you will be out of harm's way.
night ugly woman
At night there is no such thing as an ugly woman
borne
The burden which is well borne becomes light.
whether women
Whether they give or refuse, it delights women just the same to have been asked.
believe
He who can believe himself well, will be well.
darkness fault hid night woman
Blemishes are hid by night and every fault forgiven; darkness makes any woman fair.
anger becomes belongs fair ferocious peace
Fair peace becomes men; ferocious anger belongs to beasts.
death frown sneer worried
A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow.
prince
A prince should be slow to punish, and quick to reward.