Horace citations

Page 2

“To have good sense, is the first principle and fountain of writing well.”
Scribendi recte sapere est et principium et fons.

“It is your concern when your neighbor's wall is on fire.”
Nam tua res agitur, paries cum proximus ardet.

“Ah, Postumus! they fleet away,
Our years, nor piety one hour
Can win from wrinkles and decay,
And Death's indomitable power.”
Eheu fugaces, Postume, Postume, labuntur anni nec pietas moram rugis et instanti senectae adferet indomitaeque morti.

“It is sweet and honorable to die for one's country.”
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

“He wins every hand who mingles profit with pleasure, by delighting and instructing the reader at the same time.”
Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci, lectorem delectando pariterque monendo.

“We are but dust and shadow.”
Pulvis et umbra sumus.

“If you wish me to weep, you yourself
Must first feel grief.”
Si vis me flere, dolendum est primum ipsi tibi.

“O Fortune, cruellest of heavenly powers,
Why make such game of this poor life of ours?”
Heu, Fortuna, quis est crudelior in nos Te deus? Ut semper gaudes illudere rebus Humanis!

“Then take, good sir, your pleasure while you may;
With life so short 'twere wrong to lose a day.”
Dum licet, in rebus jucundis vive beatus; Vive memor quam sis aevi brevis.

“As for me, when you want a good laugh, you will find me in fine state… fat and sleek, a true hog of Epicurus' herd.”
Me pinguem et nitidum bene curata cute vises, cum ridere voles Epicuri de grege porcum.

“O fairer daughter of a fair mother!”
O matre pulchra filia pulchrior

“Enjoy the present smiling hour,
And put it out of Fortune's power.”
Quod adest memento componere aequus.

“The years as they pass plunder us of one thing after another.”
Singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes.

“You may drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she still will hurry back.”
Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret.

“So live, my boys, as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts.”
Quocirca vivite fortes, fortiaque adversis opponite pectora rebus

“Mediocrity in poets has never been tolerated by either men, or gods, or booksellers.”
Mediocribus esse poetis Non homines, non di, non concessere columnae.

“In peace, as a wise man, he should make suitable preparation for war.”
in pace, ut sapiens, aptarit idonea bello

“To have a great man for an intimate friend seems pleasant to those who have never tried it; those who have, fear it.”
Dulcis inexpertis cultura potentis amici; Expertus metuit.[http://books.google.com/books?id=BGxQAAAAcAAJ&q=%22Dulcis+inexpertis+cultura+potentis+amici+Expertus+metuit%22&pg=PA207#v=onepage]

“Struggling to be brief I become obscure.”

“And what he fears he cannot make attractive with his touch he abandons.”
Et quae Desperat tractata nitescere posse relinquit.

“Think to yourself that every day is your last; the hour to which you do not look forward will come as a welcome surprise.”
Omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum. grata superveniet, quae non sperabitur hora.

“The man who is tenacious of purpose in a rightful cause is not shaken from his firm resolve by the frenzy of his fellow citizens clamoring for what is wrong, or by the tyrant's threatening countenance.”
Iustum et tenacem propositi virum non civium ardor prava iubentium, non vultus instantis tyranni mente quatit solida.

“Sky, not spirit, do they change, those who cross the sea.”
Caelum, non animum mutant, qui trans mare currunt.

“What the discordant harmony of circumstances would and could effect.”
Quid velit et possit rerum concordia discors

“Often a purple patch or two is tacked on to a serious work of high promise, to give an effect of colour.”
Inceptis gravibus plerumque et magna professis purpureus, late qui splendeat, unus et alter adsuitur pannus.

“Art is long, life is short.”
Ars longa, vita brevis.

“I am displeased when sometimes even the worthy Homer nods;”
Indignor quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus;

“This to the right, that to the left hand strays,
And all are wrong, but wrong in different ways.”
Ille sinistrorsum, hie dextrorsum abit : unus utrique Error, sed variis illudit partibus.

“What odds does it make to the man who lives within Nature's bounds, whether he ploughs a hundred acres or a thousand?”