Ovid Famous Quotes & Sayings

Be bold, take courage... and be strong of soul. — Ovid

The burden which is well borne becomes light. — Ovid

All human things hang on a slender thread, the strongest fall with a sudden crash. — Ovid

Lente, lente currite, noctis equi. Translation: Run slowly, slowly, horses of the night. — Ovid

Knowest thou not that kings have long hands?
[Lat., An nescis longos regibus esse manus?] — Ovid

Destroy our leisure and you break love's bow. — Ovid

It is art to conceal art. -Ars est celare artem — Ovid

Heaven rewards the pious; those who cherish the gods
Themselves are cherished. — Ovid

If the subject's easy we may all be wise;
What stands unfirm, the smallest force overthrows. — Ovid

It is lawful to be taught by an enemy. Fas est ab hoste doceri. — Ovid

We must improve our time; time goes with rapid foot. — Ovid

Thus all things altered. Nothing dies. And here and there the unbodied spirit flies. — Ovid

The spirited horse, which will try to win the race of its own accord, will run even faster if encouraged. — Ovid

The result proves the wisdom of the act. — Ovid

Giving calls for genius. — Ovid

Though the power be wanting, yet the wish is praiseworthy. — Ovid

All love is vanquished by a succeeding love. — Ovid

Nothing retains its form; new shapes from old
Nature, the great inventor, ceaselessly
Contrives. In all creation, be assured,
There is no death - no death, but only change
And innovation; what we men call birth
Is but a different new beginning; death
Is but to cease to be the same. Perhaps
This may have moved to that and that to this,
Yet still the sum of things remains the same.
Nothing can last, I do believe, for long
In the same image. — Ovid

The workmanship was better than the subject matter. — Ovid

She that weds well will wisely match her love, Nor be below her husband nor above. — Ovid

That fair face will as years roll on lose its beauty, and old age will bring its wrinkles to the brow. — Ovid

The poet's labors are a work of joy, and require peace of mind. — Ovid

When the roses are gone, nothing is left but the thorn. — Ovid

If Jupiter hurled his thunderbolt as often as men sinned, he would soon be out of thunderbolts. — Ovid

Suppressed pain chokes us; in our breasts
It surges, adding ever to its strength. — Ovid

You put aside the work that's done, and seek some work to do. — Ovid

What is without periods of rest will not endure. — Ovid

Time was when genius was more precious than gold, but
now to have nothing is monstrous barbarism. — Ovid

She who resists as though she would not win,
By her own treason falls an easy prey. — Ovid

We need to accept the strangeness of things as they are. — Ovid

Nothing aids which may not also injure us.
Fire serves us well, but he who plots to burn
His neighbor's roof arms his hands with fire. — Ovid

Beauty is a fragile gift. — Ovid

All things change; nothing perishes. — Ovid

I am a shipwrecked man who fears every sea. — Ovid

Our native soil draws all of us, by I know not what sweetness, and never allows us to forget. — Ovid

My vengeance is my guilt — Ovid

Rest strengthens the body, the mind too is thus supported; but unremitting toil destroys both. — Ovid

The iron ring is worn out by constant use.
[Lat., Ferreus assiduo consumitur anulus usu.] — Ovid

Love is a thing that is full of cares and fears. — Ovid

Trivial losses often prove great gains. — Ovid

Many women long for what eludes them, and like not what is offered them. — Ovid

Whether they give or refuse, it delights women just the same to have been asked. — Ovid

The mind grows sicker than the body in contemplation of it's suffering. — Ovid

If you would conquer Love, he must be fought
At his first onslaught; sprinkle but a drop
Of water, the new-kindled flame expires. — Ovid

The act is judged of by the event. — Ovid

Idleness ruins the constitution — Ovid

Envy feeds on the living, after death it rests, then the honor of a man protects him. — Ovid

Whilst you are prosperous you can number many friends; but when the storm comes you are left alone. — Ovid

Beauty is heaven's gift, and how few can boast of beauty. — Ovid

There is no brotherhood between love and dignity,
Nor can they share the same abode. — Ovid

If you want to be loved, be loveable. — Ovid

Though strength be wanting, the will to action
Merits praise. — Ovid

Love that is fed by jealousy dies hard. — Ovid

All things can corrupt perverse minds. — Ovid

Giving requires good sense.
[Lat., Rest est ingeniosa dare.] — Ovid

The ungovernable passion for wealth.
[Lat., Opum furiata cupido.] — Ovid

First try all other means, but if the wound
Heal not, then use the knife, lest to the clean
From the diseased the canker spread. — Ovid

Man's last day must ever be awaited and none to be
counted happy until his death, until his last funeral rites
are paid. — Ovid

The mind alone can not be exiled.
[Lat., Mens sola loco non exulat.] — Ovid

Only she is chaste whom none has invited — Ovid

Struggling over my fickle heart, love draws it now this
way, and now hate that
but love, I think, is winning. I
will hate, if I have strength; if not, I shall love unwilling. — Ovid

The high-spirited man may indeed die, but he will not stoop to meanness. Fire, though it may be quenched, will not become cool. — Ovid

Time, the devourer of all things. — Ovid

for no god may undo what another god has done... — Ovid

Opportunity is ever worth expecting; let your hood be ever hanging ready. The fish will be in the pool where you least imagine it to be. — Ovid

A woman is a creature that's always shopping. — Ovid

According to the state of a man's conscience, so do hope and fear on account of his deeds arise in his mind. — Ovid

Every one who repeats it adds something to the scandal. [The rolling snow-ball.] — Ovid

The vulgar crowd values friends according to their usefulness. — Ovid

Women can always be caught; that's the first rule of the game. — Ovid

I have never injured anybody with a mordant poem; my
verse contains charges against nobody. Ingenuous, I have
shunned wit steeped in venom
not a letter of mine is dipped
in poisonous jest. — Ovid

And now I have finished the work, which neither the wrath of Jove, nor fire, nor the sword, nor devouring age shall be able to destroy. — Ovid

The dove, O hawk, that has once been wounded by thy talons, is frightened by the least movement of a wing.
[Lat., Terretur minimo pennae stridore columba
Unguibus, accipiter, saucia facta tuis.] — Ovid

The gods behold all righteous actions. — Ovid

You do not know it but you are the talk of all the town.
[Lat., Fabula (nec sentis) tota jactaris in urba.] — Ovid

The penalty may be removed, the crime is eternal. — Ovid

Time itself flows on with constant motion, just like a river: for no more than a river can the fleeting hour stand still. As wave is driven on by wave, and, itself pursued, pursues the one before, so the moments of time at once flee and follow, and are ever new. — Ovid

Venus favors the bold. — Ovid

Fair peace is becoming to men; fierce anger belongs to beasts. — Ovid

Perfer et obdura, dolor hic tibi proderit olim. (Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you.) — Ovid

In prosperity you may count on many friends; if the sky becomes overcast you will be alone. — Ovid

If you would marry suitably, marry your equal. — Ovid

Most safely shall you tread the middle path. — Ovid

Let me tell you I am better acquainted with you for a long absence, as men are with themselves for a long affliction: absence does but hold off a friend, to make one see him the truer. — Ovid

A field becomes exhausted by constant tillage. — Ovid

A prince should be slow to punish, and quick to reward. — Ovid

There is no useful thing which may not be turned to an injurious purpose. — Ovid

The gods favor the bold. — Ovid

Love and dignity cannot share the same abode. — Ovid

Devouring Time and envious Age, all things yield to you; and with lingering death you destroy, step by step, with venomed tooth whatever you attack. — Ovid