2,000 Year Old Dating Tips Still Apply Today

Some things never change . . . especially when it comes to dating. Believe it or not, people were looking for love (and giving advice) 2,000 years ago. In fact, a poet from Ancient Rome named Ovid laid down some rules of romance that still make sense today.

Here are three of his best tips that prove human nature hasn’t really changed all that much:

1. You’ve got to make an effort. Ovid said not to just sit around waiting for love to magically appear. “[She] will not come floating down to you through the tenuous air. She must be sought.” Translation: swipe right, go to that party, join the dog park crowd, whatever it takes.

2. Don’t pick your soulmate while drunk. Ovid warned that alcohol clouds your judgment. We’ve all been there. That last-call romance might feel like destiny at 2 a.m., but by daylight? Not so much. Some things really don’t change.

3. Clean yourself up. This one could be printed on a billboard today. Ovid wrote, “Do not let your nails project, and let them be free of dirt. Nor let any hair be in the hollow of your nostrils. [And] let not the breath of your mouth be sour and unpleasing.” In other words: brush your teeth, trim your nails, handle those nose hairs!

Two thousand years later, Ovid’s advice still holds up. Ancient wisdom that works just as well in the age of dating apps.

Some things really never change!

Doug O’Brien