Italy

Explore 329 quotes by people from Italy

How comes it, Maecenas, that no man living is content with the lot that either his choice has given him, or chance has thrown in his way, but each has praise for those who follow other paths?

Horace

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Topic

Envy

Author

Horace

Source

Satires (Horace)

Medium

Poem

Language

Latin

Time

35 BC 30s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Horace. Saturae [Satires]. c. 35 BC, bk. 1.

Current Citation

Horace. "Satires." Satires and Epistles, translated by John Davie. Oxford University Press, 2011, bk. 1.

In this extremity of our city's suffering and tribulation the revered authority of laws, human and divine, was abased and all but totally dissolved, for lack of those who should have administered and enforced them, most of whom, like the rest of the citizens, were either dead or sick, or so hard pressed for servants that they were unable to execute any office; whereby every man was free to do what was right in his own eyes.

Giovanni Boccaccio

The Decameron

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Topic

The Black Death Plague

Author

Giovanni Boccaccio

Source

The Decameron

Language

Italian

Time

1353 1350s 14th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron. c. 1353.

Current Citation

Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron, translated by Wayne A. Rebhorn. W. W. Norton & Company, 2015.

I hate and I love: why I do so you may well ask. I do not know, but I feel it happen and am in agony.

Catullus

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Topic

Love and hate Dangers of love Love

Author

Catullus

Source

Carmina

Medium

Poem

Language

Latin

Time

51 BC 50s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Catullus, Gaius Valerius. Carmina. c. 1481, no. 85.

Current Citation

Cattulus, Gaius Valerius. The Poems of Catullus, translated by Guy Lee. Oxford University Press, 2009, no. 85.

Our ancestors refused to allow any woman to transact even private business without a guardian to represent her; women had to be under the control of fathers, brothers, or husbands. But we (heaven preserve us!) are now allowing them even to take part in politics, and actually to appear in the Forum and to be present at our meetings and assemblies!... Give a free rein to their unprincipled nature, to this untamed animal, and then expect them to set a limit on their own license!

Livy

Ab Urbe Condita

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Topic

Women's rights Men and women Misogyny Patriarchy

Author

Livy

Source

Ab Urbe Condita

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Latin

Time

9 BC 1s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Livy. Ab urbe condita [From the Founding of the City]. c. 9 BC, bk. 34, ch. 2, sect. 12.

Current Citation

Livy. Rome and the Mediterranean: History of Rome from Its Foundation, books 31-45, translated by Henry Bettenson. Penguin Classics, 1976, bk. 34, ch. 2.

I could hardly find a book on morals where, even before I had read it in its entirety, I did not find several chapters or certain sections attacking women, no matter who the author was... I finally decided that God formed a vile creature when He made woman, and I wondered how such a worthy artisan could have deigned to make such an abominable work which, from what they say, is the vessel as well as the refuge and abode of ever evil and vice.

Christine de Pizan

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Topic

Misogyny Patriarchy

Author

Christine de Pizan

Language

Italian

Time

1405 1400s 15th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

De Pizan, Christine. Le Livre de la cité des dames [The Book of the City of Ladies]. Paris, c. 1405.

Current Citation

De Pizan, Christine. The Book of the City of Ladies. Penguin Classics, 2000.

He will through life be master of himself and a happy man who from day to day can have said, "I have lived: tomorrow the Father may fill the sky with black clouds or with cloudless sunshine."

Horace

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Topic

Living in the moment Life

Author

Horace

Source

Odes (Horace)

Medium

Poem

Language

Latin

Time

23 BC 20s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Horace. Carmina [Odes]. 23 BC, bk. 3, no. 29.

Current Citation

Horace. "Odes." The Complete Odes and Epodes, translated by David West. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 3, no. 29.

No verse can give pleasure for long, nor last, that is written by drinkers of water.

Horace

Epistles

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Topic

Alcohol Poetry

Author

Horace

Source

Epistles

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Precepts and axioms

Language

Latin

Time

20 BC 20s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Horace. Epistularum liber primus [First Book of Letters]. 20 BC, bk. 1, epistle 19.

Current Citation

Horace. "Epistles." Satires and Epistles, translated by John Davie. Oxford University Press, 2011, bk. 1, epistle 19.

You can tell the character of every man when you see how he receives praise.

Seneca the Younger

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Topic

Character Compliments

Author

Seneca the Younger

Source

Epistles (Seneca the Younger)

Medium

Letter

Language

Latin

Time

65 60s 1st century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Seneca the Younger. Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium [Moral Letters to Lucilius]. c. 65 AD.

Current Citation

Seneca, Lucius Annaeus. Letters on Ethics, translated by Margaret Graver and A. A. Long. University of Chicago Press, 2017.

The ape, vilest of beasts, how like to us.

Quintus Ennius

Quoted in On the Nature of the Gods, by Cicero

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Topic

Apes Primates Animals Man and animals

Speaker

Quintus Ennius

Author

Cicero

Source

On the Nature of the Gods

Medium

Essay

Language

Latin

Time

45 BC 40s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Quintus Ennius. Quoted in De Natura Deorum [On the Nature of the Gods], written by Cicero. c. 45 BC, bk. 1.

Current Citation

Quintus Ennius. Quoted in The Nature of the Gods, written by Cicero, translated by P. G. Walsh. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 1.

In comparing various authors with one another, I have discovered that some of the gravest and latest writers have transcribed, word for word, from former works, without making acknowledgment.

Pliny the Elder

Naturalis Historia

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Topic

Plagiarism

Author

Pliny the Elder

Source

Naturalis Historia

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

Latin

Time

77 70s 1st century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Pliny the Elder. Historia Naturalis [Natural History]. 77 AD, bk. 1.

Current Citation

Pliny the Elder. Natural History: A Selection, translated by John F. Healy. Penguin Classics, 1991, bk. 1.

A farm is like a man-however great the income, if there is extravagance but little is left.

Cato the Elder

De Agricultura

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Topic

Thrift Money management

Author

Cato the Elder

Source

De Agricultura

Medium

Essay

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

Latin

Time

160 BC 160s BC 2nd century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Cato the Elder. De Agricultura [On Agriculture]. c. 160 BC, ch. 1, sect. 6.

Current Citation

Cato the Elder. "On Agriculture." Cato and Varro: On Agriculture, translated by W. D. Hooper and H. B. Ash. Harvard University Press, 1934, ch. 1, sect. 6.

Material objects are of two kinds, atoms and components of atoms. The atoms themselves cannot be swamped by any force, for they are preserved indefinitely by their absolute solidity.

Lucretius

On the Nature of Things

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Topic

Atomism Scientific theory

Author

Lucretius

Source

On the Nature of Things

Medium

Poem

Genre

Didactic poem Philosophical literature

Language

Latin

Time

55 BC 50s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Carus, Titus Lucretius. De Rerum Natura [On the Nature of Things]. c. 55 BC, bk. 1, l. 518.

Current Citation

Carus, Titus Lucretius. The Nature of Things, translated by Alicia Stallings. Penguin Classics, 2007, bk. 1, l. 518.

This was among my prayers: a piece of land not so very large, where a garden should be and a spring of ever-flowing water near the house, and a bit of woodland as well as these.

Horace

Satires

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Topic

Simple living Rural life

Author

Horace

Source

Satires

Medium

Poem

Language

Latin

Time

30 BC 30s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Romulus. Quoted in Saturae [Satires], written by Horace. c. 35 BC, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Romulus. Quoted in Satires and Epistles, written by Horace, translated by John Davie. Oxford University Press, 2011, bk. 2.

There exists a law, inborn of our hearts by natural intuition, if our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or enemies any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right.

Cicero

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Topic

Self-defense Moral relativism Moral theory Morality

Author

Cicero

Source

Pro Milone

Medium

Speech

Language

Latin

Time

52 BC 50s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Pro Milone [In Defense of Milo]. c. 52 BC, sect. 10.

Current Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Pro Milone [For Milo], translated by D. H. Berry. Oxford University Press, 2009, sect. 10.

History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life, and brings us tidings of antiquity.

Cicero

On Oratory

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Topic

History

Author

Cicero

Source

On Oratory

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Definition

Language

Latin

Time

55 BC 50s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. De Oratore [On the Orator]. c. 55 BC, bk. 2, ch. 9, sect. 36.

Current Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Cicero: On the Orator, Books I-II, translated by E. W. Sutton and H. Rackham. Harvard University Press, 1948, bk. 2, ch. 9, sect. 36.

It is not he who has many possessions that you should call blessed: he more rightly deserves that name who knows how to use the gods' gifts wisely and to endure harsh poverty, and who fears dishonor more than death.

Horace

Odes

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Topic

Hashtag blessed Honor Wealth

Author

Horace

Source

Odes

Medium

Poem

Language

Latin

Time

11 BC 10s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Horace. Carmina [Odes]. 23 BC, bk. 4, no. 9.

Current Citation

Horace. "Odes." The Complete Odes and Epodes, translated by David West. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 4, no. 9.

Three things are necessary for man to be saved: knowledge of what is to be believed, knowledge of what is to be desired, and knowledge of what is to be done.

St. Thomas Aquinas

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Topic

Salvation

Author

St. Thomas Aquinas

Source

Two Precepts of Charity

Genre

Religious literature

Language

Latin

Time

1273 1270s 13th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 1

Citation

St. Thomas Aquinas. Collationes in decem praeceptes [Sermons on the Ten Commandments]. c. 1273, prologue.

Eternal law has arranged nothing better than this, that it has given us one way in to life, but many ways out.

Seneca the Younger

More information about this quote

Topic

Life and death

Author

Seneca the Younger

Source

Moral Letters to Lucilius

Medium

Letter

Language

Latin

Time

65 60s 1st century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Seneca the Younger. Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium [Moral Letters to Lucilius]. c. 65 AD.

Current Citation

Seneca, Lucius Annaeus. Letters on Ethics, translated by Margaret Graver and A. A. Long. University of Chicago Press, 2017.

The longest part of the journey is said to be the passing of the gate.

Marcus Terentius Varro

More information about this quote

Topic

Beginning of a journey Getting started

Speaker

Agrius

Author

Marcus Terentius Varro

Source

On Agriculture (Varro)

Language

Latin

Time

27 BC 20s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Varro, Marcus Terentius. Rerum rusticarum libri tres [Three Books on Agriculture]. 1st century BC, bk. 1.

A wise traveler never despises his own country.

Carlo Goldoni

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Topic

Criticism of one's country One's native land Patriotism

Speaker

Milord Bonfil

Author

Carlo Goldoni

Source

Pamela

Medium

Play

Language

Italian

Time

1750 1750s 18th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Goldoni, Carlo. La Pamela [The Pamela]. 1750, Teatro Sant'Angelo, Venice, Italy, act 1, sc. 16.