WIST Quotations

Ovid -- Amores, II.5

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Happy is he who dares courageously to defend what he loves.

Ovid (43 BC-AD 17) Roman poet [Publius Ovidius Naso]
Amores, II.5

Ovid -- Ars Amatoria I.249-250

Dave — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 17:38:55 +0000

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

Ovid (43 BC-AD 17) Roman poet [Publius Ovidius Naso]
Ars Amatoria I.249-250

Ovid -- Ars Amatoria I.637

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Expedit esse deos et ut expedit esse putemus.
[We need to think there to be gods and, since it is expedient, let us think that there are gods.]

Ovid (43 BC-AD 17) Roman poet [Publius Ovidius Naso]
Ars Amatoria I.637

Ovid -- Ars Amatoria II.107

Dave — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:06:45 +0000

If you want to be loved, be lovable.

Ovid (43 BC-AD 17) Roman poet [Publius Ovidius Naso]
Ars Amatoria II.107

Ovid -- Ars Amatoria III.121

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Prisca juvent alios; ego me nunc denique natum Gratulor.
[Let others praise ancient times; I am glad I was born in these.]

Ovid (43 BC-AD 17) Roman poet [Publius Ovidius Naso]
Ars Amatoria III.121

Trans. by Sydney Smith: "The good of other times let people state; I think it lucky I was born so late."

Ovid -- Ex Ponto, Bk 2, ch 3

Dave — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:19:17 +0000

Gratis paenitet esse probum
[A man is sorry to be honest for nothing.]

Ovid (43 BC-AD 17) Roman poet [Publius Ovidius Naso]
Ex Ponto, Bk 2, ch 3

Trans. Henry T. Riley. Alt. translation (Bartlett): "It is annoying to be honest to no purpose."

Ovid -- Metamorphoses, I.69-70, “The Story of Phaeton”

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Thy lot is mortal, but thy wishes fly
Beyond the province of mortality.

Ovid (43 BC-AD 17) Roman poet [Publius Ovidius Naso]
Metamorphoses, I.69-70, “The Story of Phaeton”

Garth trans. Another translation: "Thy destiny is only that of man, but thy aspirations may be those of a god."

Ovid -- Metamorphoses, II.137 “The Story of Phaeton”

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Medio tutissimis ibis.
[You will go most safely by the middle way.]

Ovid (43 BC-AD 17) Roman poet [Publius Ovidius Naso]
Metamorphoses, II.137 “The Story of Phaeton”

Ovid -- Metamorphosis, Book 15 “The Worship of Aesculapius,” l. 155 [tr. Dryden]

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Ill Habits gather by unseen Degrees —
As Brooks make Rivers, Rivers run to Seas.

Ovid (43 BC-AD 17) Roman poet [Publius Ovidius Naso]
Metamorphosis, Book 15 “The Worship of Aesculapius,” l. 155 [tr. Dryden]

Sometimes cited as Dryden's Abslolam and Achitophel (1681)

Ovid -- Tristia, 2.33-34

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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

Ovid (43 BC-AD 17) Roman poet [Publius Ovidius Naso]
Tristia, 2.33-34