Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.
NUMBER: | 862 |
AUTHOR: | Ovid (43 |
QUOTATION: | A man is sorry to be honest for nothing. |
ATTRIBUTION: | This is a translation of Ovid’s “gratis paenitet esse probum” from his Ex Ponto, book 2, chapter 3. The translation in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 15th ed., p. 114 (1980) reads: “It is annoying to be honest to no purpose.” |
SUBJECTS: | Honesty |