When we think of poetry, we can think about numerous examples of people who managed to capture the beauty, joy, and pain of the world in which we live. Regardless of whether you like poetry or not we are sure that at least once you felt touched by someone’s words and felt that they resonated deeply in your soul.
Poetry has had thousands of years to develop and today we can witness the sum of the most prominent poetic achievements and can immerse in them with a simple tap on our smartphones. One of the greatest and most impactful poets was certainly Virgil, an ancient Roman poet that lived more than 2000 years ago, and made a lasting mark on the development of Western literature and poetry.
Here’s an overview of some of Virgil’s most impactful sayings and quotes.
“Fortune sides with him who dares.”
Having the audacity to want to change things for the better is something that not all of us have. Virgil is right when he talks about the importance of daring and having grit. Daring to make the necessary steps on the journey towards something greater is not easy. It is important to remember that every time we decide to make a step forward, we decide to break the status quo.
“The descent into Hell is easy.”
Although this is a very metaphorical saying that comes from one of his works, Virgil is very clear about what it means to go down the wrong path. It does not even need to seem like we are going down the wrong path until we get to the destination, and we see the consequences of our actions. Our actions add up to a much greater thing. To avoid the metaphorical or literal hell, depending on what you believe in, there needs to be wisdom and compassion in your actions.
“No day shall erase you from the memory of time.”
Virgil was known for also writing about love, both about the good sides of love and the fiery, maddening, and passionate side of love that can drive a person mad. Sometimes our love can blind us, completely clouding and taking over our minds. Love can easily enslave us with our desires.
“Each of us bears his own Hell.”
As cheesy as it may sound, everyone has their own hell to bear. Over centuries, the saying has changed and adapted to different contexts, but at the end of the day it means only one thing: we should always humanize everyone around us and realize that everyone is a small universe of experiences, emotions, worries, and troubles.
“Ah, merciless Love, is there any length to which you cannot force the human heart to go?”
Love can be beautiful, but it can also be terrifying. Art is full of examples of what love can do to a human being. The command of love is sometimes not positive as we would want it to be, love can also be a highly unpleasant and destructive force that can force us to do things that we would not do in our regular state of mind.
“Love conquers all; therefore, let us submit to love.”
The beauty of love is that it is rare, and pure love is worth living and fighting for. When one can control their actions and fully submit to love, they can count on a sense of joy that comes from letting love into their lives.
“Fortunate is he whose mind has the power to probe the causes of things and trample underfoot all terrors and inexorable fate.”
Those who dedicate the time and effort to finding the causes behind their actions, the actions of those around them, and the events in their lives, can find a special sense of security and predictability, something that we all yearn for which sometimes seems like a luxury.
“The noblest motive is the public good.”
Dedicating our lives to serving others is not an easy feat and we may never be able to help everyone, doing all the good things that we want to do. It is important to be aware that we are just a speck in a much larger whole in which others also have needs and wants. We must remember that if we have the power to improve the lives of those around us, we should use it because by improving the lives of others we improve our own life.
“They are able who think they are able.”
Determination can certainly take you a long way. It is not easy to set your mind to something, make an informed decision, and carry it out with determination and grit but the benefits may be much greater than the effort. Those who do not see their capacities and abilities are destined to stay in the same spot, under the counterproductive comfort of the status quo.
“What good are prayers and shrines to a person mad with love? The flame keeps gnawing into her tender marrow hour by hour, and deep in her heart the silent wound lives on.”
A person in love is a different type of human being, with an entire spectrum of complex emotions. Being in love requires energy and determination. Virgil talks about love as a force or as a fire that consumes the bodies and souls of those who catch on fire.
“No stranger to misfortune myself, I have learned to relieve the sufferings of others.”
One of the most graceful things we can achieve in life is having empathy and being able to understand the position of others. This is not easy to attain, because it requires a lot of introspection and coming to terms with our inner darkness. Those who can use their experiences to help others, overcoming the pains of similar experiences, are nothing short of a precious gift.
“Do not yield to misfortunes, but advance more boldly to meet them, as your fortune permits you.”
Virgil did not dwell in pessimism, and he believed that we could counter all our misfortunes and keep fighting to achieve a better life because nothing prevents us from at least trying. Bravery is not something that everyone has, but sometimes it is an important ingredient when making life-changing decisions and he refused to believe that we cannot at least try.
“The best days are the first to flee.”
Virgil was very interested in the passing of time, and we can find these thoughts scattered throughout his poetry. Virgil was cognizant of the fact that time is also perception and that it does indeed seem to run away from us during our best days, while it seems to almost stop or slow down when things go south.
“Time is flying never to return.”
Virgil was also aware that we are all living on borrowed time and that nobody has a time machine or the power to turn back time. Regardless of whether we want it or not, time is ticking, and life is unraveling in front of our eyes. It is up to us to keep up with the pace or let it trample us.
“The greatest wealth is health.”
This one will surely resonate with many of us who have had health scares or give high value to health. In a previous couple of years, all of us have, in one way or another, experienced and learned about the importance of health and how everything is subordinate to the importance of a healthy human life.
“Evil is nourished and grows by concealment.”
Evil is often hidden or masked by good intentions. This is one of the cleverest and most often-used tricks to achieve what you want.; However, such evils tend to keep growing and being fed by more and more negativity and bad intentions. Once the evil comes out, it might end up hurting those who created it in the first place.
“…We should first learn the winds and the nature of the sky, the customary cultivation and the ways of the place. What each region bears and rejects. Here corn shoots up, and there grapes do. Elsewhere young trees grow strong and the wild grasses.”
This quote resonates with those who value nature and the importance of feeling connected to a natural space. This is one of those quotes of Virgil that almost seem prophetic and of great relevance today. We live in a world in which we have become so detached from nature to the point where we are watching entire ecosystems and sustainable ways of living collapse right in front of our eyes.
“All things by nature are ready to get worse.”
Virgil was not the most pessimistic person, but he was conscious of the fact that things can go wrong, and nothing is surprising about that. Just thinking about the fact that every outcome can either be good or bad, leads to the conclusion that there is always a statistical chance that things may take a turn for the worse, even when we least expect it to them.
“Look with favour upon a bold beginning.”
One of the greatest luxuries in life is certainly having another chance. Turning a new page in life is a chance that we should not take for granted. Although exciting, new beginnings can also be quite scary. But every so often, these new, bold beginnings are exactly what we need.
Virgil – A Poet Who Inspired
Wrapping Up
Even today, Virgil remains one of the most influential poets in the history of literature and poetry. His impact on the western canon and the development of western literary thought is immeasurable. His work is filled with a plethora of emotions, rich figures of speech, maturity, and wisdom that seemed to escape the boundaries of his time and the mindset of his fellow citizens.
Virgil was celebrated as an author, believed by some to be a powerful magician, and even worshipped. As a poet, he was beloved for his words of wisdom that were memorized and recited by millions, centuries after his death.
We hope you found his words inspiring, useful, and moving; that you will use some of them in your everyday life, and that you will be inspired to learn more about this fascinating author.
