A metal watering can holds a curved brown leather piece beside a seedling in a sunlit meadow.

Original artwork, not a still

Satires. ii. 2. (111.)

Horace

In peace, as a wise man, he should make suitable preparation for war.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The saying presents peaceful conditions as the right time to prepare for war. Its contrast links wisdom with anticipating a future that differs sharply from the present. The practical principle expressed here is that readiness should precede a crisis, rather than begin only after trouble arrives.

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