“Often a purple patch or two is tacked on to a serious work of high promise, to give an effect of colour.”

— Horace, Ars Poetica, line 14

About Horace

65 BC – 8 BC

Roman lyric poet, author of the "Odes" and "Satires".

“Pale death, with impartial step, knocks at the hut of the poor and the towers of kings.”

“It is right for him who asks forgiveness for his offenses to grant it to others.”

“Seize the day, believing as little as possible in the morrow.”

“What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty!”

“We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds.”

“Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work.”

“Hard work is simply the refuge of people who have nothing whatever to do.”

“Why does this magnificent applied science which saves work and makes life easier bring us so little happiness?”

“I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.”