Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso, known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace with whom he is often ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature. The Imperial scholar Quintilian considered him the last of the Latin love elegists. He enjoyed enormous popularity, but, in one of the mysteries of literary history, he was sent by Augustus into exile...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionPoet
desire coveting strive
We are always striving for things forbidden, and coveting those denied us.
strong medicine evil
Resist beginnings: it is too late to employ medicine when the evil has grown strong by inveterate habit.
falling-in-love fall indolence
He who would not be idle, let him fall in love.
path middle-path moderation
Most safely shall you tread the middle path.
envy fields crops
The heavier crop is ever in others' fields.
routine trouble habitual
Let what is irksome become habitual, no more will it trouble you.
action righteous
The gods behold all righteous actions.
suffering benefits
Often they benefit who suffer wrong.
agents gains
Gain, acquired by many agents, soon accumulates.
adversity valor hector
Who would have known of Hector, if Troy had been happy? The road to valor is built by adversity.
beauty years frail
A frail gift is beauty, which grows less as time draws on, and is devoured by its own years.
beauty modesty strife
Great is the strife between beauty and modesty.
beauty heaven boast
Beauty is heaven's gift, and how few can boast of beauty.
beauty doors age
Beauty, if you do not open your doors, takes age from lack of use.