Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Horace, full name Quintus Horatius Flaccus NULL

Roman Lyric Poet and Satirist under the Emperor Augustus

"Your own safety is at stake when your neighbor's house is in flames."

"[The man is free] who is self-reliant... who masters his passions; who fears neither poverty nor death nor prison; who resists his appetites [and] despises worldly ambition."

"A stomach that is seldom empty despises common food."

"Adversity is wont to reveal genius, prosperity to hide it."

"Believe that each day which shines upon you is the last."

"Brute strength bereft of reason falls by its own weight."

"Enjoy the present day, trusting very little to the morrow."

"Excess of wine unlocks secrets."

"Fools, in avoiding vice, run to the opposite extreme."

"Force without reason falls of its own weight."

"Good books are to the young mind what the warming sun and the refreshing rain of spring are to the seeds which have lain dormant in the frosts of winter. They are more, for they may save from that which is worse than death, as well as bless with that which is better than life."

"He is always a slave who cannot live on a little."

"Instruction enlarges the natural powers of the mind."

"Even as we speak, jealous time flees - seize this day, and put little faith in tomorrow."

"It is profitable to cast aside toys and to learn wisdom."

"Knowledge is the foundation and source of good writing."

"Less vividly is the mind stirred by what finds entrance through the ears than by what is brought before the trusty eyes."

"Mingle a little folly with your wisdom; a little nonsense now and then is pleasant."

"Nothing is too high for the daring of mortals: we storm heaven itself in our folly."

"Poetry is like painting: one piece takes your fancy if you stand close to it, another if you keep at some distance."

"Seize the present; trust the future as little as you may... or... Sieze the day, with little trust in tomorrow (Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.)"

"Shun the inquisitive person, for his is also a talker."

"The body oppressed by excess bears down the mind, and depresses to the earth any portion of the divine spirit we had been endowed with."

"The chief pleasure (in eating) does not consist in costly seasoning or exquisite flavor, but in yourself. Do you seek for sauce by sweating."

"The common people are but ill judges of a man’s merits; they are slaves to fame, and their eyes are dazzled with the pomp of titles and large retinue. No wonder, then, that they bestow their honors on those who least deserve them."

"The good hate sin because they love virtue."

"The secret of all good writing is sound judgment."

"The written word, unpublished, can be destroyed, but the spoken word can never be recalled."

"There is a mean in all things. Even virtue itself hath its stated limits: which not being strictly observed, it ceases to be virtue."

"They change their sky not their mind who cross the sea. A busy idleness possesses us: we seek a happy life, with ships and carriages: the object of our search is present with us."

"Those who are unacquainted with the world take pleasure in the intimacy of great men; those who are wiser dread the consequences."

"Time will bring to light whatever is hidden; it will conceal and cover up what is now shining with the greatest splendor."

"A good and faithful judge ever prefers the honorable to the expedient. "

"A word once uttered can never be recalled. "

"Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant. "

"Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it. "

"Cease to inquire what the future has in store, and take as a gift whatever the day brings forth. "

"Clogged with yesterday's excess, the body drags the mind down with it. "

"Don't think, just do. "

"Great effort is required to arrest decay and restore vigor. One must exercise proper deliberation, plan carefully before making a move, and be alert in guarding against relapse following a renaissance. "

"He has half the deed done who has made a beginning. "

"He who postpones the hour of living is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses."

"He will through life be master of himself and a happy man who from day to day can have said, “I have lived”: tomorrow the Father may fill the sky with black clouds or with cloudless sunshine. "

"Life is short, should hope be more? IN the moment of our talking, envious time has ebb’d away. Seize the present, trust tomorrow e’en as little as you may. "

"Make a good use of the present. "

"Not bound to swear allegiance to any master, wherever the wind takes me I travel as a visitor. "

"Nothing's beautiful from every point of view. "

"Seize the day, put no trust in tomorrow. "

"Subdue your passion or it will subdue you. "

"The man who is just and resolute will not be moved from his settled purpose, either by the misdirected rage of his fellow citizens, or by the threats of an imperious tyrant."