Ovid was a Roman poet who lived from 43 BC to 17 AD. He is best known for his Metamorphoses, a 15-book poem that explores themes of love, transformation, and fate. His other works include the Amores, Ars Amatoria, and the Fasti. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Ovid on love, death, metamorphoses.
Make the workmanship surpass the materials. — Ovid
Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.
Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you. — Ovid
Love is no assignment for cowards. — Ovid
If you want to be loved, be lovable. — Ovid
Habits change into character.
Venus favors the bold. — Ovid
Jupiter from on high smiles at the perjuries of lovers. — Ovid
Medicine sometimes snatches away health, sometimes gives it. — Ovid
The end doesn't justify the means. — Ovid
Ovid Short Quotes
Our integrity is never worth so much as when we have parted with our all to keep it.
Jupiter from on high smiles at the perjuries of lovers.
Neither can the wave that has passed by be recalled, nor the hour which has passed return again.
Medicine sometimes snatches away health, sometimes gives it.
Those things that nature denied to human sight, she revealed to the eyes of the soul.
The end doesn't justify the means.
Everything comes gradually and at its appointed hour.
We are ever striving after what is forbidden, and coveting what is denied us.
The time will come when it will disgust you to look in the mirror.
Well has he lived who has lived well in obscurity.
Ovid Quotes About Love
Love is a driver, bitter and fierce if you fight and resist him,
Easy-going enough once you acknowledge his power. — Ovid
Love is the force that leaves you colorless — Ovid
A soldier when aged is not appreciated; the love of an old man sickens. — Ovid
Fortune and love favor the brave. — Ovid
There is no brotherhood between love and dignity,
Nor can they share the same abode. — Ovid
Happy are those who dare courageously to defend what they love. — Ovid
Love and dignity cannot share the same abode. — Ovid
Love is full of anxious fears. — Ovid
A good disposition is a virtue in itself, and it is lasting; the burden of the years cannot depress it, and love that is founded on it endures to the end. — Ovid
Wine gives courage and makes men more apt for passion. — Ovid
Ovid Quotes About Death
Nor is there any law more just, than that he who has plotted death shall perish by his own plot. — Ovid
Envy feeds on the living, after death it rests, then the honor of a man protects him. — Ovid
Man should ever look to his last day, and no one should be called happy before his funeral.
[Lat., Ultima semper
Expectanda dies homini est, dicique beatus
Ante obitum nemo et suprema funera debet.] — Ovid
Death is less bitter punishment than death's delay. — Ovid
An evil life is a kind of death. — Ovid
Devouring Time and envious Age, all things yield to you; and with lingering death you destroy, step by step, with venomed tooth whatever you attack. — Ovid
We are all bound thither; we are hastening to the same common goal. Black death calls all things under the sway of its laws.
[Lat., Tendimus huc omnes; metam properamus ad unam. Omnia sub leges mors vocat atra suas.] — 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
Death is not grievous to me, for I shall lay aside my pains by death.
[Lat., Nec mihi mors gravis est posituro morte dolores.] — Ovid
Thou fool, what is sleep but the image of death? Fate will give an eternal rest.
[Lat., Stulte, quid est somnus, gelidae nisi mortis imago?
Longa quiescendi tempora fata dabunt.] — Ovid
Ovid Quotes About People
In our leisure we reveal what kind of people we are. — Ovid
In our play we reveal what kind of people we are. — Ovid
That you may please others you must be forgetful of yourself. — Ovid
People are slow to claim confidence in undertakings of magnitude. — Ovid
By looking at squinting people you learn to squint. — Ovid
People are slow to believe that, which if believed would work them harm. — Ovid
The good of other times let people state; I think it lucky I was born so late. — Ovid
Few people want the pleasures they are free to take. — Ovid
Some people think that because they do the opposite of what they are asked to do, they have initiative — Ovid
Ovid Quotes About Fish
Always have your hook baited, in the pool you least think, there will be a fish. — 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
Opportunity is ever worth expecting; let your hood be ever hanging ready. The fish will be in the pool where you least imagine it to be. — Ovid
He who holds the hook is aware in what waters many fish are swimming. — Ovid
Chance is always powerful. Let your hook always be cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be fish. — Ovid
The sea's vast depths lie open to the fish;
Wherever the breezes blow the bird may fly;
So to the brave man every land's a home. — Ovid
Keep thy hook always baited, for a fish lurks even in the most unlikely swim. — Ovid
Ovid Quotes About Rest
What is without periods of rest will not endure. — Ovid
Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop. — Ovid
Sleep, rest of things, O pleasing Deity,
Peace of the soul, which cares dost crucify,
Weary bodies refresh and mollify. — Ovid
Sleep, rest of nature, O sleep, most gentle of the divinities, peace of the soul, thou at whose presence care disappears, who soothest hearts wearied with daily employments, and makest them strong again for labour! — Ovid
Take rest; a field that has rested gives a beautiful crop. — Ovid
Sleep, nature's rest, divine tranquility, That brings peace to the mind. — Ovid
That, which has not its alternation of rest, will not last long. — Ovid
Rest strengthens the body, the mind too is thus supported; but unremitting toil destroys both. — Ovid
The rest of the crowd were friends of my fortune, not of me.
[Lat., Caetera fortunae, non mea, turba fuit.] — Ovid
Giving requires good sense.
[Lat., Rest est ingeniosa dare.] — Ovid
Ovid Famous Quotes And Sayings
Make the workmanship surpass the materials. — Ovid
Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you. — Ovid
Love is no assignment for cowards. — Ovid
If you want to be loved, be lovable. — Ovid
Venus favors the bold. — Ovid
Medicine sometimes snatches away health, sometimes gives it. — Ovid
The end doesn't justify the means. — Ovid
There is nothing constant in the universe. All ebb and flow, and every shape that's born, bears in its womb the seeds of change. — Ovid
There is more refreshment and stimulation in a nap, even of the briefest, than in all the alcohol ever distilled. — Ovid
All things change, nothing is extinguished. There is nothing in the whole world which is permanent. Everything flows onward; all things are brought into being with a changing nature; the ages themselves glide by in constant movement. — Ovid
Passion persuades me one way, reason another. I see the better and approve it, but I follow the worse. — Ovid
It is a kingly act to assist the fallen. — Ovid
Nothing is stronger than habit. — Ovid
Endure and persist; this pain will turn to good by and by. — Ovid
A red rose peeping through a white? Or else a cherry (double graced) Within a lily? Centre placed? Or ever marked the pretty beam, A strawberry shows, half drowned in cream? Or seen rich rubies blushing through A pure smooth pearl, and orient too? So like to this, nay all the rest, Is each neat niplet of her breast. — Ovid
Tempus fugit (time flies). — Ovid
Either you pursue or push, O Sisyphus, the stone destined to keep rolling.
[Lat., Aut petis aut urgues ruiturum, Sisyphe, saxum.] — Ovid
The lamp burns bright when wick and oil are clean. — Ovid
The glow of inspiration warms us; it is a holy rapture. — Ovid
In prosperity you may count on many friends; if the sky becomes overcast you will be alone. — Ovid
Dripping water hollows out a stone — Ovid
Gifts, believe me, captivate both men and Gods, Jupiter himself was won over and appeased by gifts. — Ovid
Remove the temptation of idleness and cupids bow is useless. — Ovid
Minds that are ill at ease are agitated by both hope and fear. — Ovid
Nothing is swifter than our years. — Ovid
My hopes are not always realized, but I always hope. — Ovid
All things can corrupt when minds are prone to evil. — Ovid
Bear and endure: This sorrow will one day prove to be for your good. — Ovid
Habits change into character. — Ovid
Stop short of your appetite; eat less than you are able. — Ovid
If Jupiter hurled his thunderbolt as often as men sinned, he would soon be out of thunderbolts. — Ovid
If you count the sunny and the cloudy days of the whole year, you will find that the sunshine predominates. — Ovid
everything changes, nothing perishes — Ovid
Whilst you are prosperous you can number many friends; but when the storm comes you are left alone. — Ovid
When there is plenty of wine, sorrow and worry take wing. — Ovid
It is annoying to be honest to no purpose. — Ovid
What makes men indifferent to their wives is that they can see them when they please. — 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
There is nothing in the whole world which abides. All things are in a state of ebb and flow, and every shadow passes away. Even time itself, like a river, is constantly gliding away . — Ovid
Time is the devourer of all things. — Ovid
Keep a mid course between two extremes. — Ovid
Sleep, thou repose of all things; sleep, thou gentlest of the deities; thou peace of the mind, from which care flies; who doest soothe the hearts of men wearied with the toils of the day, and refittest them for labor. — Ovid
Nothing is more powerful than custom or habit. — Ovid
Lovers remember everything.
[Lat., Meminerunt omnia amantes.] — Ovid
We are charmed by neatness: Let not your hair be out of order.
[Lat., Munditiis capimur: non sine lege capilli.] — Ovid
To wish is of little account; to succeed you must earnestly desire; and this desire must shorten thy sleep. — Ovid
Thou seest how sloth wastes the sluggish body, as water is corrupted unless it moves. — Ovid
This letter gives me a tongue; and were I not allowed to write, I should be dumb.
[Lat., Praebet mihi littera linguam:
Et, si non liceat scribere, mutus ero.] — Ovid
Beauty is a frail good. — Ovid
At times it is folly to hasten at other times, to delay. The wise do everything in its proper time. — Ovid
Writings survive the years; it is by writings that you know Agamemnon, and those who fought for or against him.
[Lat., Scripta ferunt annos; scriptis Agamemnona nosti,
Et quisquis contra vel simul arma tulit.] — Ovid
How little is the promise of the child fulfilled in the man. — Ovid
He is a foolish swimmer who swims against the stream, when he might take the current sideways. — Ovid
Time is generally the best doctor. — Ovid
When a rose dies, a thorn is left behind. — Ovid
We are slow to believe that which if believed would hurt our feelings. — Ovid
As wave is driven by wave
And each, pursued, pursues the wave ahead,
So time flies on and follows, flies, and follows,
Always, for ever and new. What was before
Is left behind; what never was is now;
And every passing moment is renewed. — Ovid
Occupy yourself, and you will be out of harm's way. — Ovid
There is no such thing as pure pleasure; some anxiety always goes with it. — Ovid
The bold adventurer succeeds the best. — Ovid
The mind grows sicker than the body in contemplation of it's suffering. — Ovid
The sharp thorn often produces delicate roses. — Ovid
Take away leisure and Cupid's bow is broken — Ovid
To give requires good sense. — Ovid
Great talents, by the rust of long disuse,
Grow lethargic and shrink from what they were. — Ovid
Envy, the meanest of vices, creeps on the ground like a serpent. — Ovid
The vulgar crowd values friends according to their usefulness. — Ovid
What is deservedly suffered must be borne with calmness, but when the pain is unmerited, the grief is resistless. — Ovid
Courage conquers all things: it even gives strength to the body. — Ovid
A ruler should be slow to punish and swift to reward. — Ovid
The brave find a home in every land. — Ovid
All things change, nothing perishes. — Ovid
Deadly poisons are concealed under sweet honey. — Ovid
As God is propitiated by the blood of a hundred bulls, so also is he by the smallest offering of incense.
[Lat., Sed tamen ut fuso taurorum sanguine centum,
Sic capitur minimo thuris honore deux.] — Ovid
What is now reason was formerly impulse or instinct. — Ovid
You will go most safely in the middle. — Ovid
He who has lived obscurely and quietly has lived well. — Ovid
You will be melancholy, if you are solitary. — Ovid
I hate a woman who offers herself because she ought to do so, and cold and dry thinks of her sewing when making love. — Ovid
Life Lessons by Ovid
Ovid's works emphasize the importance of living life to the fullest and appreciating the beauty of the world around us. He encourages us to be brave and to take risks in order to experience life to its fullest potential.
Ovid also reminds us that life is fleeting and that we should not take it for granted. He emphasizes the importance of cherishing our relationships and making meaningful connections with others.
Ovid encourages us to be creative and to express ourselves through art, poetry, and other forms of creative expression. He reminds us that life is a journey and that we should strive to make the most of it.
Citation
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