Ovid

I am the poet of the poor, because I was poor when I loved; since I could not give gifts, I gave words.

All other creatures look down toward the earth, but man was given a face so that might turn his eyes toward the stars and his gaze upon the sky.

Right it is to be taught even by the enemy.

And now the measure of my song is done: The work has reached its end; the book is mine, None shall unwrite these words: nor angry Jove, Nor war, nor fire, nor flood, Nor venomous time that eats our lives away. Then let that morning come, as come it will, When this disguise I carry shall be no more, And all the treacherous years of life undone, And yet my name shall rise to heavenly music, The deathless music of the circling stars. As long as Rome is the Eternal City These lines shall echo from the lips of men, As long as poetry speaks truth on earth, That immortality is mine to wear.

Although the gods were in the distant skies,Pythagoras drew near them with his mind;what nature had denied to human sight,he saw with his intellect, his mental eye.When he, with reason and tenacious care,had probed all things, he taught-- to those who gatheredin silence and amazement-- what he'd learnedof the beginnings of the universe,of what caused things to happen, and what istheir nature: what god is, whence come the snows,what is the origin of lightning bolts--whether it is the thundering winds or Jovethat cleave the cloudbanks-- and what is the cause of earthquakes, and what laws control the courseof stars: in sum, whatever had been hid,Pythagoras revealed.

When he, whoever of the gods it was, had thus arranged in order and resolved that chaotic mass, and reduced it, thus resolved, to cosmic parts, he first moulded the Earth into the form of a mighty ball so that it might be of like form on every side _ And, that no region might be without its own forms of animate life, the stars and divine forms occupied the floor of heaven, the sea fell to the shining fishes for their home, Earth received the beasts, and the mobile air the birds _ Then Man was born:_ though all other animals are prone, and fix their gaze upon the earth, he gave to Man an uplifted face and bade him stand erect and turn his eyes to heaven.

Saepe creat molles aspera spina rosas" - "Often the prickly thorn produces tender roses

Fas est ab hoste doceri.One should learn even from one's enemies.

I got nervous at bulls and eagles,Trying to figure what shape Zeus might take f

Brass shines with constant usage, a beautiful dress needs wearing,Leave a house empty, it rots.

Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.

Habits change into character.

Like fragile ice anger passes away in time.

Fair peace becomes men ferocious anger belongs to beasts.

First appearance deceives many.

Beauty is a fragile gift.

Bear and endure: This sorrow will one day prove to be for your good.

Happy are those who dare courageously to defend what they love.