“I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust, I forgot to ask that they be years of youth. ”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“Happy is the man who has broken the chains which hurt the mind, and has given up worrying once and for all.”
"Be patient and tough; one day this pain will be useful to you.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“Fas est ab hoste doceri.
One should learn even from one's enemies.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“Omnia mutantur, nihil interit (everything changes, nothing perishes).”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“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.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“I am dragged along by a strange new force. Desire and reason are pulling in different directions. I see the right way and approve it, but follow the wrong.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“God himself helps those who dare.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“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, quote from Metamorphoses
“Love is the force that leaves you colorless”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“Eurydice, dying now a second time, uttered no complaint against her husband. What was there to complain of, but that she had been loved?”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“My soul would sing of metamorphoses.
But since, o gods, you were the source of these
bodies becoming other bodies, breathe
your breath into my book of changes: may
the song I sing be seamless as its way
weaves from the world's beginning to our day.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“Water belongs to us all. Nature did not make the sun one person's property, nor air, nor water, cool and clear.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“In the make-up of human beings, intelligence counts for more than our hands, and that is our true strength.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“Venus of Eryx, from her mountain throne,
Saw Hades and clasped her swift-winged son, and said:
'Cupid, my child, my warrior, my power,
Take those sure shafts with which you conquer all,
And shoot your speedy arrows to the heart
Of the great god to whom the last lot fell
When the three realms were drawn. Your mastery
Subdues the gods of heaven and even Jove,
Subdues the ocean's deities and him,
Even him, who rules the ocean's deities.
Why should Hell lag behind? Why not there too
Extend your mother's empire and your own....?
Then Cupid, guided by his mother, opened
His quiver of all his thousand arrows
Selected one, the sharpest and the surest,
The arrow most obedient to the bow,
And bent the pliant horn against his knee
And shot the barbed shaft deep in Pluto's heart.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“When all the other animals, downcast looked upon the earth, he [Prometheus] gave a face raised on high to man, and commanded him to see the sky and raise his high eyes to the stars.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“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.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“The god of Delos, proud in victory,
Saw Cupid draw his bow's taut arc, and said:
'Mischievous boy, what are a brave man's arms
To you? That gear becomes my shoulders best.
My aim is sure; I wound my enemies,
I wound wild beasts; my countless arrows slew
But now the bloated Python, whose vast coils
Across so many acres spread their blight.
You and your loves! You have your torch to light them!Let that content you; never claim my fame!'
And Venus' son replied: 'Your bow, Apollo,
May vanquish all, but mine shall vanquish you.
As every creature yields to power divine,
So likewise shall your glory yield to mine.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“Right it is to be taught even by the enemy.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“...et ignotas animum dimittit in artes, naturamque nouat. (to arts unknown he bends his wits, and alters nature.)”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“Even as a cow she was lovely.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“And besides, we lovers fear everything”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“Et ignotas animum dimittit in artes.
And he sets his mind to unknown arts.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“You will go most safely by the middle way.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“She made up prayers and said them,
Worshipping unknown gods with unknown singing,
Her customary magic, which would cover
The white moon’s face and darken the sun with cloud.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“for no god may undo what another god has done...”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“Ceza kaldırılabilir; ama suç insanın içinde sonsuza kadar yaşar.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
“Crédule enfant, à quoi bon ces vains efforts pour saisir une fugitive apparence? L'objet de ton désir n'existe pas! ... Cette ombre que tu vois, c'est le reflet de ton image.”
― Ovid, quote from Metamorphoses
Ovid
Born place: in Sulmo, Italia, Roman Republic, Italy
Born date March 28, 0043
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“Conversation is more than the sum of the words. It is
also a way of signaling the importance of another person by
showing your willingness to give that person your rarest
resource: time. It is a way of conveying respect. Conversation
reminds us that we are part of a greater whole, connected in
some way that transcends duty or bloodline or commerce.
Conversation can be many things, but it can never be useless.”
― Scott Adams, quote from God's Debris: A Thought Experiment
“A Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, came to America more than a century ago and made some astute observations about the American way. He said that we have a misleading idea at the very head of our Constitution: the pursuit of happiness. One can not pursue happiness; if he does he obscures it. If he will proceed with the human task of life, the relocation of the center of gravity of the personality to something greater outside itself, happiness will be the outcome.”
― Karl Marlantes, quote from What It is Like to Go to War
“Nitkovu bi uzvratila na prezir dakako samo prezirom, ali ipak bi je zaboljelo srce kad bi se tko narugao onomu što ona smatra za svetinju, makar tko se podrugivao. Nije to potjecalo od nedostatka odlučnosti. Potjecalo je donekle i od toga što je preslabo poznavala svijet, što je preslabo poznavala ljude i zatvarala se u svoj zakutak. Takvim je ljudima teško kad se kasnije razočaraju; još je teže kad osjećaš da si sam kriv. Zašto si očekivao više nego što ti se može dati? A takve ljude očekuje svaki čas takvo razočaranje.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, quote from The Insulted and Humiliated
“You got used to running things on your own."
"What could he do about it when he's in Iraq and the car breaks down in Kansas?"
Beckett gave her a long, quiet look. "I'm not in Iraq."
"No, and it has to be said, I'm not in Kansas anymore." She lifted her hands, then let them fall. "It's not that I've forgotten how to be a couple, but that my experience in being part of one is different from yours. Maybe from most people's. And I've been on my own a long time."
"Now you're not. I'm not fighting a war, and I'm right here." Needed to be here, he realized, with her.”
― Nora Roberts, quote from The Next Always
“What a need we humans have for confession. To a priest, to a friend, to a psychoanalyst, to a relative, to an enemy, even to a torturer when there is no one else, it doesn't matter so long as we speak out what moves within us. Even the most secretive of us do it, if no more than writing in a private diary. And I have often thought as I read stories and novels and poems, especially poems, that they are no more than authors' confessions transformed by their art into something that confesses for us all. Indeed, looking back on my life-long passion for reading, the one activity that has kept me going and given me the most and only lasting pleasure, I think this is the reason that explains why it means so much to me. The books, the authors who matter the most are those who speak to me and speak for me all those things about life I most need to hear as the confession of myself.”
― Aidan Chambers, quote from Postcards from No Man's Land
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Demon KissedBookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
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