classicalstudies:

Hi guys! Here’s a masterpost of some inspirational quotes taken from classical literature that you can use in your bullet journal, planner, or whenever you need some extra motivation! Italicized are some of my favorites that really help me stop procrastinating and get through the day 🙂 

romans:

seneca:

• “i will storm the gods, and shake the universe.”
• “luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
• “if one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.”
• “it is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, but because we do not dare, things are difficult.”
• “sometimes it is an act of bravery even to live.”

ovid:

• “nothing is stronger than habit.”
• “let your hook be always cast. in the pool where you least expect it, will be fish.”
• “endure and persist; this pain will turn into good by and by.”
• “what is without periods of rest will not endure.”

virgil:

• “they can because they think they can.”
• “let us go singing as far as we go: the road will be less tedious.”
• “work conquers all.”
• “practice and thought may forge many an art.”
• “we cannot all do everything.”

horace:

• “adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.”
• “he who has begun has half done. dare to be wise; begin!”
• “remember when life’s path is steep to keep your mind even.”
• “mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. it is lovely to be silly at the right moment.”
• “he who feared that he would not succeed sat still.”

catullus:

• “often has leisure ruined great kings and fine cities.”
• “if anything has happened to one who ever yearned and wished but never hoped, that is a rare pleasure of the soul.”
• “i hate and i love. perhaps you ask why i do this? i do not know, but i feel it happening and i am tortured.”

greeks:

homer:

• “the fates have given mortals hearts that can endure.”
• “some of the words you’ll find within yourself, the rest some power will inspire you to say.”
• “for a friend with an understanding heart is worth no less than a brother.”
• “there is a time for many words and there is a time also for sleep.”

sappho:

• “may I write words more naked than flesh, stronger than bone, more resilient than sinew, sensitive than nerve.”
• “beauty endures only for as long as it can be seen; goodness, beautiful today, will remain so tomorrow.”
• “you who judge me, for me you are nothing.”

plato:

• “be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
• “no one should be discouraged who can make constant progress, even though it be slow.”
• “music is a moral law. it gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”
• “the first and best victory is to conquer self.”
• “the beginning is the most important part of the work.”

aristotle:

• “the roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.”
• “pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”
• “poetry demands a man with a special gift for it, or else one with a touch of madness in him.”
• “we are what we repeatedly do. excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” (misattributed, but too good to pass up 🙂 )

plutarch:

• “the mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.”
• “what we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.”
• “to make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.”
• “painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks.”
  
• “to find fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.”

I hope you find these useful, or at least enjoyed reading through them! Let me know which are your favorites! 

xx, penelope