"Begin, be bold and venture to be wise"
About this Quote
Horace’s line is a pep talk with teeth: stop rehearsing virtue and start practicing it. “Begin” is the real dare. It treats hesitation not as caution but as a kind of moral laziness, the habit of letting perfect plans substitute for imperfect action. In a culture that prized decorum and measured speech, Horace gives permission to move first and tidy up later.
“Be bold” reframes courage as a prerequisite for clarity. Wisdom, in this formulation, isn’t a trophy handed to the careful; it’s something you earn by risking embarrassment, failure, even social misstep. The subtext is quietly anti-elitist: you don’t need to be wise to start. Starting is how you get wise. That inversion matters in Rome, where authority and age often claimed a monopoly on judgment. Horace, the poet who made a career out of urbane self-awareness and gently needling pretension, suggests that timidity is the more dangerous vice because it keeps you in the safe realm of intentions.
The line’s elegance is its three-step tempo: command, command, consequence. “Venture to be wise” turns wisdom into an expedition, not a possession. Venture implies uncertainty and stakes; it makes prudence look like a comfort blanket. Coming from a writer navigating the Augustan settlement - an era selling stability after civil war - the maxim carries an implied warning: peace can become an alibi for passivity. Horace offers a sharper civic ethic: act, risk, learn.
“Be bold” reframes courage as a prerequisite for clarity. Wisdom, in this formulation, isn’t a trophy handed to the careful; it’s something you earn by risking embarrassment, failure, even social misstep. The subtext is quietly anti-elitist: you don’t need to be wise to start. Starting is how you get wise. That inversion matters in Rome, where authority and age often claimed a monopoly on judgment. Horace, the poet who made a career out of urbane self-awareness and gently needling pretension, suggests that timidity is the more dangerous vice because it keeps you in the safe realm of intentions.
The line’s elegance is its three-step tempo: command, command, consequence. “Venture to be wise” turns wisdom into an expedition, not a possession. Venture implies uncertainty and stakes; it makes prudence look like a comfort blanket. Coming from a writer navigating the Augustan settlement - an era selling stability after civil war - the maxim carries an implied warning: peace can become an alibi for passivity. Horace offers a sharper civic ethic: act, risk, learn.
Quote Details
| Topic | Motivational |
|---|---|
| Source | Horace — English translation of Latin line "Dimidium facti qui coepit habet; sapere aude, incipe", commonly rendered "Begin, be bold and venture to be wise". |
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