Horace Quotes

Beauty is less important than quality.

Glory follows virtue as if it were its shadow.

I courted fame but as a spur to brave and honest deeds; who despises fame will soon renounce the virtues that deserve it.

A man is great by deeds, not by birth.

Goodness and hard work are rewarded with respect.

Clever men are good, but they are not the best.

Next to excellence is the appreciation of it.

Listen, I believe I should be winning Sport Personality of the Year because if it's about sporting achievements and it's about personality, then I'm a winner hands down.

Better deserve honor and not have it, than have it and not deserve it.

It is not by his faults, but by his excellences, that we measure a great man.

On the whole, it is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.

No eulogy is due to him who simply does his duty and nothing more.

Whatever you are, always be a good one.

Of all virtues, magnanimity is the rarest. There are a hundred persons of merit for one who willingly acknowledges it in another.

I am told so many ill things of a man, and I see so few in him, that I begin to suspect he has a real but troublesome merit, as being likely to eclipse that of others.

Wealth does not bring excellence, but that wealth comes from excellence.

He is not great who is not greatly good.

Real excellence, indeed, is most recognized when most openly looked into.

Report followeth not all goodness, except difficulty and rarity be joined thereto.

Character: the grandest thing in the world.

I always wish to find great virtues where there are great talents, and to love what I admire.

If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, though he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door.

Cream rises. Excellence does have its rewards.

It so cliché to say some guys and girls need to step up, but there can be bigger stars and bigger names when people get their chance.

Be thou the first true merit to befriend, his praise is lost who stays till all commend.