Horace

He who has made it a practice to lie and deceive his father, will be the most daring in deceiving others.

The poets aim is either to profit or to please, or to blend in one the delightful and the useful. Whatever the lesson you would convey, be brief, that your hearers may catch quickly what is said and faithfully retain it. Every superfluous word is spilled from the too-full memory.

Pale death with an impartial foot knocks at the hovels of the poor and the palaces of king.

The disgrace of others often keeps tender minds from vice.

I never think at all when I write. Nobody can do two things at the same time and do them both well.

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

It all depends on you. You can go on sleeping forever, you can wake up right this moment.

Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy.

If a man’s eye is on the Eternal, his intellect will grow.

Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of the man. The biography of the man himself cannot be written.

It is by the goodness of God that we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them.

Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.

Too often the strong, silent man is silent only because he does not know what to say, and is reputed strong only because he has remained silent.

The great majority of men are bundles of beginnings.

One great use of words is to hide our thoughts.

There is properly no history; only biography.

I want someone with the proven strength to persevere, someone who knows this job and takes it seriously, someone who understands that the issues a president faces are not black and white and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters.

Though I can make my extravaganzas appear credible, I cannot make the truth appear so.

He who would begun has half done. Dare to be wise; begin.

The rain comes and what bends will rise. It is a purposeful journey.

It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right.