Q0483
“He who has begun has half done.” — Horace (Ars Poetica)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: Ars Poetica. Theme: action.
English
He who has begun has half done.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to Ars Poetica and files it under Roman Literary Thought. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65–8 BCE) was Rome’s master of lyric and hexameter satire under Augustus, friend of Maecenas. The Odes, Satires, Epistles, and Ars Poetica blend ethics, aesthetics, and social observation.
How to read this passage
Philosophy of action asks how intentions, reasons, habits, and consequences hang together. Ethical traditions often insist that knowing the good is incomplete without doing it. This passage enters that discussion through action.
Concepts in this quote
- Action
- Action concerns agency: what it is to do something intentionally, and how thought becomes practice.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Horace. (n.d.). He who has begun has half done. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0483
MLA: Horace. “He who has begun has half done..” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0483.
Chicago: Horace. “He who has begun has half done..” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0483.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “He who has begun has half done.”?
The passage is attributed to Horace, Ars Poetica. The archive attributes this English wording to Ars Poetica and files it under Roman Literary Thought. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Horace mean by action?
Philosophy of action asks how intentions, reasons, habits, and consequences hang together. Ethical traditions often insist that knowing the good is incomplete without doing it. This passage enters that discussion through action.