Horace

If any man cannot feel the power of God when he looks upon the stars, then I doubt whether he is capable of any feeling at all. [Ut haec ipsa qui non sentiat deorum vim habere is nihil omnino sensurus esse videatur.]

The envious man grows lean at the success of his neighbor.

Fortune makes a fool of those she favors too much.

Only a stomach that rarely feels hungry scorns common things.

Avoid inquisitive persons, for they are sure to be gossips, their ears are open to hear, but they will not keep what is entrusted to them.

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.

I believe in one thing only, the power of the human will

Unconsciously we all have a standard by which we measure other men, and if we examine closely we find that this standard is a very simple one, and is this: we admire them, we envy them, for great qualities we ourselves lack. Hero worship consists in just that. Our heroes are men who do things which we recognize, with regret, and sometimes with a secret shame, that we cannot do. We find not much in ourselves to admire, we are always privately wanting to be like somebody else. If everybody was satisfied with himself, there would be no heroes.

Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still.

All styles are good except the tiresome kind.

He walked out into the cold morning asking himself this heretical question: Can you start measuring a minute at any instant you wish?

We have a lot of anxieties, and one cancels out another very often.

A country-bred man can always learn to get on with city people, but a town-bred fellah never gets the real hang of the country. You can put city polish on a man, but by golly, it seems you can’t ever rub it off him.

A big leather-bound volume makes an ideal razor strap. A thin book is useful to stick under a table with a broken caster to steady it. A large, flat atlas can be used to cover a window with a broken pane. And a thick, old-fashioned heavy book with a clasp is the finest thing in the world to throw at a noisy cat.

I don’t think the human mind can comprehend the past and the future. They are both just illusions that can manipulate you into thinking theres some kind of change.

He who distinguishes the true savor of his food can never be a glutton; he who does not cannot be otherwise.

If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment with life. That is very serious!

Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority.

Any so-called material thing that you want is merely a symbol: you want it not for itself, but because it will content your spirit for the moment.

If we are but sure the end is right, we are too apt to gallop over all bounds to compass it; not considering the lawful ends may be very unlawfully attained.

The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.