--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No poems can please for long or live that…" description: "\"No poems can please for long or live that are written by water drinkers.\" — Horace" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/horace-172_live_no-poems-can-please-for-long-or-live-tha_2214931.jpg" --- # No poems can please for long or live that are written by… ![“No poems can please for long or live that are written by water drinkers.” quote by Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/horace-172_live_no-poems-can-please-for-long-or-live-tha_2214931.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/horace-172_live_no-poems-can-please-for-long-or-live-tha_2214931.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/horace-172_live_no-poems-can-please-for-long-or-live-tha_2214931.jpg) > “No poems can please for long or live that are written by water drinkers.” [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Drinking water leads to shallow poetry that lacks lasting value; true art requires depth beyond mere sustenance. **In simple terms:** Water‑drinking poets produce fleeting verses. Key Takeaway Cultivate depth in creative work. Themes artistry ephemerality literary critique Mood reflective didactic Type poetry philosophy When to use this quote - writing workshops - literary criticism - personal reflection Key Concepts substance vs. style creative inspiration literary standards Questions to Reflect On - How can you add depth to your writing? - What fuels lasting artistic impact? A Different Perspective May undervalue simple expression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Drinkers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drinkers/) [Poems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poems/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [No poems can please long or live that are written by water drinkers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-poems-can-please-long-or-live-that-are-written-by-water-drinkers/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“this then will be my destiny: scrabbling for pennies in dark tiny halls reading poems I have long since become tired of. and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/this-then-will-be-my-destiny-scrabbling-for-pennies-in-dark-tiny/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“Water drinkers perceive nothing but the crude and material appearance of things, while intoxication, on the contrary, dulls the eyes of the body and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/water-drinkers-perceive-nothing-but-the-crude-and-material-appearance/) [Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [“There's another way to put it. Sometimes your luck runs out and you have to accept that the life you planned was a dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lee-burke/there-s-another-way-to-put-it-sometimes-your-luck-runs-out-and-you/) [James Lee Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lee-burke/) > [“The future's written in water.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-maccullough/the-future-s-written-in-water/) [Carolyn MacCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-maccullough/) > [My efforts with Hollywood are like things written in water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/my-efforts-with-hollywood-are-like-things-written-in-water/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [“Sometimes your luck runs out and you have to accept that the life you planned was a dream written on water.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lee-burke/sometimes-your-luck-runs-out-and-you-have-to-accept-that-the-life-you/) [James Lee Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lee-burke/) > [The best poems take long journeys. I like poetry best that journeys--while remaining in the human scale--to the other world, which may be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/the-best-poems-take-long-journeys-i-like-poetry-best-that-journeys/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [There are definitely connections between poems, but I wanted each to stand on its own. I guess it goes back to the idea of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-powers/there-are-definitely-connections-between-poems-but-i-wanted-each-to/) [Kevin Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-powers/) > [I wanted many of the poems to have long legs. At first I was calling them clothespin poems, before I knew what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucie-brock-broido/i-wanted-many-of-the-poems-to-have-long-legs-at-first-i-was-calling/) [Lucie Brock-Broido](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucie-brock-broido/) > [I am furious at all the letters to answer, when all I want to do is think and write poems. ... I long for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-am-furious-at-all-the-letters-to-answer-when-all-i-want-to-do-is/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Come boy, and pour for me a cup Of old Falernian. Fill it up With wine, strong, sparkling, bright, and clear; Our host decrees…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/come-boy-and-pour-for-me-a-cup-of-old-falernian-fill-it-up-with-wine/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [No poem was ever written by a drinker of water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-poem-was-ever-written-by-a-drinker-of-water/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [No verse can give pleasure for long, nor last, that is written by drinkers of water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-verse-can-give-pleasure-for-long-nor-last-that-is-written-by/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [It is not enough for poems to be fine; they must charm, and draw the mind of the listener at will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/it-is-not-enough-for-poems-to-be-fine-they-must-charm-and-draw-the/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) ## More by Horace > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“Finxerunt animi, raro et perpauca loquentis. (To action little, less to words inclinded.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/finxerunt-animi-raro-et-perpauca-loquentis-to-action-little-less-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [No verse can give pleasure for long, nor last, that is written by drinkers of water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-verse-can-give-pleasure-for-long-nor-last-that-is-written-by/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Fate with impartial hand turns out the doom of high and low; her capacious urn is constantly shaking the names of all mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/fate-with-impartial-hand-turns-out-the-doom-of-high-and-low-her/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [A word, once sent abroad, flies irrevocably.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/a-word-once-sent-abroad-flies-irrevocably/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“Natales grate numeras? (Do you count your birthdays with gratitude?)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/natales-grate-numeras-do-you-count-your-birthdays-with-gratitude/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [ In a moment comes either death or joyful victory. \[Lat., Horae Momento cita mors venit aut victoria laeta.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/in-a-moment-comes-either-death-or-joyful-victory-lat-horae-momento/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - It is a sweet and becoming thing to die for ones country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/dulce-et-decorum-est-pro-patria-mori-it-is-a-sweet-and-becoming-thing/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [ Neither men, nor gods, nor booksellers' shelves permit ordinary poets to exist. \[Lat., Mediocribus esse poetis Non homines, non di, non concessere columnae.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/neither-men-nor-gods-nor-booksellers-shelves-permit-ordinary-poets-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Don't yield to that alluring witch, laziness, or else be prepared to surrender all that you have won in your better moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/don-t-yield-to-that-alluring-witch-laziness-or-else-be-prepared-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Avoid inquisitive persons, for they are sure to be gossips, their ears are open to hear, but they will not keep what is entrusted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/avoid-inquisitive-persons-for-they-are-sure-to-be-gossips-their-ears/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“You may drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she still will hurry back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/you-may-drive-out-nature-with-a-pitchfork-yet-she-still-will-hurry/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [There is a proper measure in all things, certain limits beyond which and short of which right is not to be found. Who so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/there-is-a-proper-measure-in-all-things-certain-limits-beyond-which/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Never despair while under the guidance and auspices of Teucer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/never-despair-while-under-the-guidance-and-auspices-of-teucer/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Alas, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by, nor will piety give any stay to wrinkles and pressing old age and untamable death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/alas-postumus-the-fleeting-years-slip-by-nor-will-piety-give-any-stay/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) [Explore all 1,000 Horace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) ## More Drinkers quotes > [No verse can give pleasure for long, nor last, that is written by drinkers of water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-verse-can-give-pleasure-for-long-nor-last-that-is-written-by/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [I never was a crazy liquor drinker, and I don't like beer that much - though I keep the brews at home because my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-brown/i-never-was-a-crazy-liquor-drinker-and-i-don-t-like-beer-that-much/) [Danny Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-brown/) > [He was not only, I soon discovered, a water drinker, but a strict vegetarian, to which, perhaps, he owed a great deal of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kingsley/he-was-not-only-i-soon-discovered-a-water-drinker-but-a-strict/) [Charles Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kingsley/) > [We can't help being thirsty, moving toward the voice of water. Milk drinkers draw close to the mother. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, shamans,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/we-can-t-help-being-thirsty-moving-toward-the-voice-of-water-milk/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [I don't like the word 'alcoholic'. I like to think of myself as an advanced drinker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-handler/i-don-t-like-the-word-alcoholic-i-like-to-think-of-myself-as-an/) [Chelsea Handler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-handler/) > [Unlike every other product that is now manufactured for the table, wine exists in as many varieties as there are people who produce it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/unlike-every-other-product-that-is-now-manufactured-for-the-table/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [I like all paintings. I always look at the paintings, good or bad, in barbershops, furniture stores, provincial hotels. I'm like a drinker who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/i-like-all-paintings-i-always-look-at-the-paintings-good-or-bad-in/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [To be honest, I'm not much of a drinker. It makes me sick, and I hate that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/to-be-honest-i-m-not-much-of-a-drinker-it-makes-me-sick-and-i-hate/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [I'm not a drinker, my body won't tolerate...eh...spirits, really. I had two martinis New Years Eve and I tried to hi-jack an elevator and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/i-m-not-a-drinker-my-body-won-t-tolerate-eh-spirits-really-i-had-two/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [When wine drinkers tell me they taste notes of cherries, tobacco and rose petals, usually all I can detect is a whole lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-stein/when-wine-drinkers-tell-me-they-taste-notes-of-cherries-tobacco-and/) [Joel Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-stein/) > [The intoxication of the faro drinker only shows itself at first by an increase in noise which is only deafening, and finally by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/the-intoxication-of-the-faro-drinker-only-shows-itself-at-first-by-an/) [Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [The big compliment came from the beer drinkers who didn't know me. They wouldn't drink or move when I sang. If they had their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-waters/the-big-compliment-came-from-the-beer-drinkers-who-didn-t-know-me/) [Ethel Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-waters/) > [The first time I lay actual eyes on the real David Lynch on the set of his movie, he's peeing on a tree...Mr. David…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/the-first-time-i-lay-actual-eyes-on-the-real-david-lynch-on-the-set/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Weddings mainly are for drinkers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-black/weddings-mainly-are-for-drinkers/) [Jack Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-black/) > [Now we may have more preachers out there than we have drinkers. But a fellow told me a story one time about a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/now-we-may-have-more-preachers-out-there-than-we-have-drinkers-but-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 158 Drinkers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drinkers/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No poems can please for long or live that are written by water drinkers.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Horace" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-poems-can-please-for-long-or-live-that-are-written-by-water/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Drinkers" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-poems-can-please-for-long-or-live-that-are-written-by-water/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/horace-172_live_no-poems-can-please-for-long-or-live-tha_2214931.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/horace-172_live_no-poems-can-please-for-long-or-live-tha_2214931.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/horace-172_live_no-poems-can-please-for-long-or-live-tha_2214931.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No poems can please for long or live that are written by water drinkers.” — Horace", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Horace", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "No poems can please for long...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-poems-can-please-for-long-or-live-that-are-written-by-water/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-poems-can-please-for-long-or-live-that-are-written-by-water/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```