Ovid, born Publius Ovidius Naso on March 20, 43 BCE, in Sulmo, Italy, was a Roman poet of immense influence and talent. His works, particularly “Metamorphoses” and “Ars Amatoria,” showcased his poetic skill and mastery of storytelling. Ovid’s poetry explored themes of love, transformation, mythology, and human emotions, captivating readers with his vivid imagery and lyrical style. His ability to breathe life into ancient myths and convey the complexities of human passion made him a celebrated figure in Roman literature. Despite his success, Ovid’s life took a tragic turn when he was exiled by Emperor Augustus for unknown reasons. His exile to Tomis (modern-day Romania) greatly influenced his later works, which reflected his longing for Rome and a sense of loss. Ovid’s enduring legacy as one of Rome’s greatest poets continues to inspire and captivate readers, ensuring that his contributions to literature remain celebrated and cherished.
Use the occasion, for it passes swiftly.
Ovid
Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason? Why if it prosper, none dare call it treason.
Ovid
To feel our ills is one thing, but to cure them is another.
Ovid
Time, the devourer of all things.
Ovid
Time, motion and wine cause sleep.
Ovid
Time is the devourer of all things.
Ovid
Time is generally the best doctor.
Ovid
Thou seest how sloth wastes the sluggish body, as water is corrupted unless it moves.
Ovid
There is no such thing as pure pleasure; some anxiety always goes with it.
Ovid
Venus favors the bold.
Ovid
There is more refreshment and stimulation in a nap, even of the briefest, than in all the alcohol ever distilled.
Ovid
Those things that nature denied to human sight, she revealed to the eyes of the soul.
Ovid
You can learn from anyone even your enemy.
Ovid
We are ever striving after what is forbidden, and coveting what is denied us.
Ovid
You will go most safely in the middle.
Ovid
There is a god within us.
Ovid
Why should I go into details, we have nothing that is not perishable except what our hearts and our intellects endows us with.
Ovid
Whether you call my heart affectionate, or you call it womanish: I confess, that to my misfortune, it is soft.
Ovid
Whether they give or refuse, it delights women just the same to have been asked.
Ovid
What makes men indifferent to their wives is that they can see them when they please.
Ovid
What is without periods of rest will not endure.
Ovid
What is now reason was formerly impulse or instinct.
Ovid
What is it that love does to a woman? Without she only sleeps; with it alone, she lives.
Ovid
Where belief is painful we are slow to believe.
Ovid
What is deservedly suffered must be borne with calmness, but when the pain is unmerited, the grief is resistless.
Ovid
He who says o’er much I love not is in love.
Ovid
If you want to be loved, be lovable.
Ovid
If any person wish to be idle, let them fall in love.
Ovid
I attempt an arduous task; but there is no worth in that which is not a difficult achievement.
Ovid
How little is the promise of the child fulfilled in the man.
Ovid
In our leisure we reveal what kind of people we are.
Ovid
He who would not be idle, let him fall in love.
Ovid
It is annoying to be honest to no purpose.
Ovid
He who can believe himself well, will be well.
Ovid
Happy is the man who has broken the chains which hurt the mind, and has given up worrying once and for all.
Ovid
Happy are those who dare courageously to defend what they love.
Ovid
Habits change into character.
Ovid
Give way to your opponent; thus will you gain the crown of victory.
Ovid
Fortune and love favor the brave.
Ovid
He whom all hate all wish to see destroyed.
Ovid
Let your hook be always cast. In the pool where you least expect it, will be fish.
Ovid
Luck affects everything. Let your hook always be cast; in the stream where you least expect it there will be a fish.
Ovid
Love is full of anxious fears.
Ovid
Love is a thing that is full of cares and fears.
Ovid
Love is a kind of warfare.
Ovid
Love is a credulous thing.
Ovid
Love and dignity cannot share the same abode.
Ovid
In an easy matter. Anybody can be eloquent.
Ovid
Like fragile ice anger passes away in time.
Ovid
Fair peace becomes men; ferocious anger belongs to beasts.
Ovid
Let what is irksome become habitual, no more will it trouble you.
Ovid
Let others praise ancient times; I am glad I was born in these.
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
Jupiter from on high smiles at the perjuries of lovers.
Ovid
It is the poor man who’ll ever count his flock.
Ovid
It is convenient that there be gods, and, as it is convenient, let us believe there are.
Ovid
Little things please little minds.
Ovid
An anthill increases by accumulation. Medicine is consumed by distribution. That which is feared lessens by association. This is the thing to understand.
Ovid
Blemishes are hid by night and every fault forgiven; darkness makes any woman fair.
Ovid
Beauty is a fragile gift.
Ovid
Bear patiently with a rival.
Ovid
Bear and endure: This sorrow will one day prove to be for your good.
Ovid
At times it is folly to hasten at other times, to delay. The wise do everything in its proper time.
Ovid
First thing every morning before you arise say out loud, “I believe,” three times.
Ovid
An evil life is a kind of death.
Ovid
Cunning leads to knavery. It is but a step from one to the other, and that very slippery. Only lying makes the difference; add that to cunning, and it is knavery.
Ovid
All things can corrupt when minds are prone to evil.
Ovid
All love is vanquished by a succeeding love.
Ovid
Alas! how difficult it is not to betray one’s guilt by one’s looks.
Ovid
Ah me! love can not be cured by herbs.
Ovid
Against the bold, daring is unsafe.
Ovid
A prince should be slow to punish, and quick to reward.
Ovid
Art lies by its own artifice.
Ovid
Death is less bitter punishment than death’s delay.
Ovid
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.
Ovid
Everything comes gradually and at its appointed hour.
Ovid
Everyone’s a millionaire where promises are concerned.
Ovid
Everyone wishes that the man whom he fears would perish.
Ovid
Every lover is a soldier.
Ovid
Envy aims very high.
Ovid
Chance is always powerful. Let your hook always be cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be fish.
Ovid
Either do not attempt at all, or go through with it.
Ovid
Courage conquers all things: it even gives strength to the body.
Ovid
Majesty and love do not consort well together, nor do they dwell in the same place.
Ovid
Daring is not safe against daring men.
Ovid
Note too that a faithful study of the liberal arts humanizes character and permits it not to be cruel.
Ovid
A horse never runs so fast as when he has other horses to catch up and outpace.
Ovid
A man is sorry to be honest for nothing.
Ovid
First appearance deceives many.
Ovid
Endure and persist; this pain will turn to good by and by.
Ovid
The lamp burns bright when wick and oil are clean.
Ovid
The bold adventurer succeeds the best.
Ovid
The burden which is well borne becomes light.
Ovid
The cause is hidden; the effect is visible to all.
Ovid
The gods behold all righteous actions.
Ovid
The good of other times let people state; I think it lucky I was born so late.
Ovid
Make the workmanship surpass the materials.
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
Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.
Ovid
The man who has experienced shipwreck shudders even at a calm sea.
Ovid
The penalty may be removed, the crime is eternal.
Ovid
The prayers of cowards fortune spurns.
Ovid
The sharp thorn often produces delicate roses.
Ovid
The spirited horse, which will try to win the race of its own accord, will run even faster if encouraged.
Ovid
The vulgar crowd values friends according to their usefulness.
Ovid
The heavier crop is ever in others’ fields.
Ovid
No man can purchase his virtue too dear, for it is the only thing whose value must ever increase with the price it has cost us. Our integrity is never worth so much as when we have parted with our all to keep it.
Ovid
Many women long for what eludes them, and like not what is offered them.
Ovid
Medicine sometimes snatches away health, sometimes gives it.
Ovid
Men do not value a good deed unless it brings a reward.
Ovid
Minds that are ill at ease are agitated by both hope and fear.
Ovid
Most safely shall you tread the middle path.
Ovid
My hopes are not always realized, but I always hope.
Ovid
Tears at times have the weight of speech.
Ovid
Enhance and intensify one’s vision of that synthesis of truth and beauty which is the highest and deepest reality.
Ovid
Take rest; a field that has rested gives a beautiful crop.
Ovid
Neither can the wave that has passed by be recalled, nor the hour which has passed return again.
Ovid
Nothing is more powerful than custom or habit.
Ovid
Nowadays nothing but money counts: a fortune brings honors, friendships; the poor man everywhere lies low.
Ovid
Often they benefit who suffer wrong.
Ovid
People are slow to claim confidence in undertakings of magnitude.
Ovid
The will is commendable though the ability may be wanting.
Ovid
Neglect of appearance becomes men.
Ovid