Quotes from book

Ars amatoria

“Love is a kind of warfare.”
Militiae species amor est.

“Yield to the opposer, by yielding you will obtain the victory.”

“I am the poor man's poet; because I am poor myself and I have known what it is to be in love. Not being able to pay them in presents, I pay my mistresses in poetry.”
Pauperibus vates ego sum, quia pauper amavi; Cum dare non possem munera, verba dabam.

“A field becomes exhausted by constant tillage.”
Continua messe senescit ager.

“Habit makes all things bearable.”
Quod male fers, adsuesce, feres bene.

“Rage is for beasts, but shining peace for man.”
Candida pax homines, trux decet ira feras.

“Leave her alone. A fallow field soon shows its worth,
And rain is best absorbed by arid earth.”
Da requiem: requietus ager bene credita reddit

“They come to see; they come that they themselves may be seen.”
Spectatum veniunt, veniunt spectentur ut ipsae.

“Our charms depart all on their own, so pluck the bloom.
For if you don't, it meets a wasted doom.”
Nostra sine auxilio fugiunt bona; carpite florem, Qui, nisi carptus erit, turpiter ipse cadet.

“Jupiter from above laughs at lovers' perjuries.”
Iuppiter ex alto periuria ridet amantum.

“Seize Time; his swift foot can't be held.”
Utendum est aetate: cito pede labitur aetas.

“Either don't try at all or make damned sure you succeed.”
Aut non rem temptes aut perfice.

“It is convenient that there be gods, and, as it is convenient, let us believe that there are.”
Expedit esse deos, et, ut expedit, esse putemus.

“Blemishes are hid by night and every fault forgiven; darkness makes any woman fair.”
Nocte latent mendae, vitioque ignoscitur omni, Horaque formosam quamlibet illa facit.

“No fairer law in all the land
Than that death-dealers die by what they've planned.”
Neque enim lex aequior ulla est, Quam necis artifices arte perire sua.

“Young love is errant, but it needs to get around;
The time and practice make it strong and sound.
That bull you fear, you petted when it wasn't big;
What now you sleep beneath was once a twig.
That little stream, in gaining waters as it goes,
Grows stronger, till at last a river flows.”
Dum novus errat amor, vires sibi colligat usu: Si bene nutrieris, tempore firmus erit. Quem taurum metuis, vitulum mulcere solebas: Sub qua nunc recubas arbore, virga fuit: Nascitur exiguus, sed opes adquirit eundo, Quaque venit, multas accipit amnis aquas.

“If she's cool and unwilling to be wooed,
Just take it, don't weaken; in time she'll soften her mood.
Bending a bough the right way, gently, makes
It easy; use brute force, and it breaks.
With swimming rivers it's the same—
Go with, not against, the current.”
Si nec blanda satis, nec erit tibi comis amanti, Perfer et obdura: postmodo mitis erit. Flectitur obsequio curvatus ab arbore ramus: Frangis, si vires experiere tuas. Obsequio tranantur aquae: nec vincere possis Flumina, si contra, quam rapit unda, nates.

“We all conceal
A god within us, we all deal
With heaven direct, from whose high places we derive
The inspiration by which we live.”
Est deus in nobis, et sunt commercia caeli: Sedibus aetheriis spiritus ille venit.

“Let love steal in disguised as friendship.”
Intret amicitiae nomine tectus amor.