Only one accomplishment is beyond both the power and the mercy of the Gods. They cannot make the past as though it had never been.
Be it mine to draw from wisdom’s fount, pure as it flows, that calm of soul which virtue only knows.
Jars neither of wine nor of water shall fail in the houses of the rich.
Everyone, to those weaker than themselves, is kind.
Still to the sufferer comes, as due from God, a glory that to suffering owes its birth.
From a just fraud God turneth not away.
Hungry wailing standeth not aloof.
But from the good health of the mind comes that which is dear to all and the object of prayer-happiness.
Base men who prosper are unenviable.
Know not to revere human things too much.
The best by far is to marry in one’s own rank.
The field of doom bears death as its harvest.
Alas for the affairs of men! When they are fortunate you might compare them to a shadow; and if they are unfortunate, a wet sponge with one dash wipes the picture away.
Who, except the gods, can live time through forever without any pain?
The man whose authority is recent is always stern.
It is an ill thing to be the first to bring news of ill.
The moving light, rejoicing in its strength, Sped from the pyre of pine, and urged its way, In golden glory, like some strange new sun...
For somehow this is tyranny’s disease, to trust no friends.
Necessity is stronger far than art.
Pleasantest of all ties is the tie of host and guest.