Skip to content

Order by December 10 for delivery before Christmas. Shop gifts

Spartan Surfers

65–8 BC

Horace

Son of a freed slave who became Rome's finest lyric poet. He gave us carpe diem and the golden mean.

8 sourced lines

Every line we carry

Each one links to its source, what it means, and the shirt in any of our looks.

  1. Seize the day. Trust tomorrow as little as you can.

    Horace tells a friend to stop reading the stars for her future. Even as we talk, envious time runs off. Take hold of today instead of betting on tomorrow.

    Odes 1.11.8, our translation from the Latin

  2. Dare to be wise. Begin.

    Horace says the man who keeps postponing the right life is like a farmer waiting for a river to finish flowing. It never will. Wisdom takes nerve, and it starts with starting.

    Epistles 1.2.40-41, our translation from the Latin

  3. Well begun is half done.

    The hardest part of most tasks is getting going. Once you have begun, half the resistance is gone. Take the first step today, even a small one.

    Epistles 1.2.40, our translation from the Latin

  4. In hard times, keep a level head.

    Horace adds that in good times you should hold back from wild joy as well. Steadiness is useful in both directions. Do not let bad news or good news knock you off balance.

    Odes 2.3.1-2, our translation from the Latin

  5. Cross the sea and you change your sky, not your mind.

    Horace says reason, not a sea view, takes away our cares. Restless travel just moves the same mind to a new place. What you are looking for, he says, is right here, if your mind is steady.

    Epistles 1.11.27, our translation from the Latin

  6. Anger is a short madness.

    Horace goes on: rule your mind, or it will rule you. Anger makes you do what you later wish undone. Rein it in like a horse before it bolts.

    Epistles 1.2.62, our translation from the Latin

  7. We are dust and shadow.

    The moon wanes and comes back, Horace says, but when we go down to the dead, we are only dust and shadow. Spring returns; we do not. Spend your days on what matters.

    Odes 4.7.16, our translation from the Latin

  8. Master of himself is the one who can say each day: I have lived.

    Tomorrow may bring storm or sun, but no god can undo what has already been lived. Horace calls that person free and glad. End each day able to say it counted.

    Odes 3.29.41-43, our translation from the Latin