Italy

Explore 329 quotes by people from Italy

How beautiful is youth,
that is always slipping away!
Whoever wants to be happy, let him be so:
of tomorrow there's no knowing.

Lorenzo de Medici

More information about this quote

Topic

Youth Living in the moment

Author

Lorenzo de Medici

Source

Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne

Medium

Poem

Language

Italian

Time

1490 1490s 15th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Medici, Lorenzo. Il trionfo di Bacco e Arianna [The Triumph of Bacchus and Arianna]. c. 1490.

Today I climbed the highest mountain in this region, which is not improperly called Ventosus (Windy). The only motive for my ascent was the wish to see what so great a height had to offer.

Petrarch

On Mont Ventoux in Provence, France.

More information about this quote

Topic

Climbing mountains Mountains Curiosity

Author

Petrarch

Source

Letters on Familiar Matters

Medium

Letter

Language

Latin

Time

1336 1330s 14th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Petrarch. Letter to Dionigi da Borgo San Sepolcro. c. 1336.

Current Citation

Petrarch. "To Dionigi da Borgo San Sepolcro of the Augustinian Order and Professor of Sacred Scripture, concerning some of his personal problems." Letters of Familiar Matters (Rerum Familiarum Libri), translated by Aldo Bernardo. Vol. 1, Italica Press, 2008.

Nothing to my way of thinking is a better proof of a well-ordered mind than a man's ability to stop just where he is and pass some time in their own company.

Seneca the Younger

More information about this quote

Topic

Solitude

Author

Seneca the Younger

Source

Letters of Seneca the Younger

Medium

Letter

Genre

Philosophical literature

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.

In disputes about natural phenomena one must begin not with the authority of Scriptural passage but with sensory experience and necessary demonstrations. For the Holy Scripture and nature derive equally from the Godhead, the former as the dictation of the Holy Spirit and the latter as the most obedient executrix of God's orders.

Galileo Galilei

Read this letter at inters.org

More information about this quote

Topic

Scientific method Science Nature Science and religion

Author

Galileo Galilei

Medium

Letter

Language

Italian

Time

1615 1610s 17th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Galilei, Galileo. "Lettera des signor Galileo Galilei accademico linceo scritta all Granduchessa di Toscana [Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina]." Fiorenza, c. 1615.

Current Citation

Galilei, Galileo. "Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina." The Essential Galileo. Hackett Publishing, 2008.

Daytime sleep is like the sin of the flesh; the more you have the more you want, and yet you feel unhappy, sated and unsated at the same time.

Umberto Eco

The Name of the Rose

Buy The Name of the Rose at Amazon Buy The Name of the Rose at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Naps Sleep

Author

Umberto Eco

Source

The Name of the Rose

Medium

Novel

Language

Italian

Time

1980 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Eco, Umberto. Il nome della rosa [The Name of the Rose]. Bompiani, 1980.

Current Citation

Eco, Humberto. The Name of the Rose, translated by William Weaver. HarperVia, 2014.

All our power lies in both mind and body; we employ the mind to rule, the body rather to serve; the one we have in common with the Gods, the other with the brutes.

Sallust

The War of Catiline

Buy The War of Catiline at Amazon Buy The War of Catiline at Amazon
Read The War of Catiline at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Mind and body God and man Man and animals

Author

Sallust

Source

The War of Catiline

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Latin

Time

42 BC 40s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Sallust. Bellum Catilinae [War of Catiline]. c. 43–40 BC.

Current Citation

Sallust. "The War with Catiline." The War with Catiline and The War with Jugurtha, translated by John T. Ramsey J. C. Rolfe. Harvard University Press, 2013.

Fear prophets, Adso, and those prepared to die for the truth, for as a rule they make many others die with them, often before them, at times instead of them.

Umberto Eco

The Name of the Rose

Buy The Name of the Rose at Amazon Buy The Name of the Rose at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Fanaticism

Speaker

William

Author

Umberto Eco

Source

The Name of the Rose

Medium

Novel

Language

Italian

Time

1980 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Eco, Umberto. Il nome della rosa [The Name of the Rose]. Bompiani, 1980.

Current Citation

Eco, Humberto. The Name of the Rose, translated by William Weaver. HarperVia, 2014.

The heart gets tired too; and it falls apart bit by bit, like an old cloth wears out in the wash.

Giovanni Verga

More information about this quote

Topic

Tired heart The heart

Speaker

Marizza la Longa

Author

Giovanni Verga

Source

The House by the Medlar Tree

Medium

Novel

Language

Italian

Time

1881 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Verga, Giovanni. I Malavoglia. Italy, 1881, ch. 11.

Current Citation

Verga, Giovanni. The House by the Medlar Tree, translated by Raymond Rosenthal. University of California Press, 1984, ch. 11.

Painting contains a divine force which not only makes absent men present, as friendship is said to do, but moreover makes the dead seem almost alive.

Leon Battista Alberti

More information about this quote

Topic

Power of art Painting Art

Author

Leon Battista Alberti

Language

Latin

Time

1435 1430s 15th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Alberti, Leon Battista. De Pictura [On Painting]. c. 1450, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Alberti, Leon Battista. On Painting, translated by John R. Spencer. Yale University Press, 1966, bk. 2.

If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.

Giuseppe di Lampedusa

The Leopard

Buy The Leopard at Amazon Buy The Leopard at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

The only constant is change Status quo Change

Speaker

Tancredi

Author

Giuseppe di Lampedusa

Source

The Leopard

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

Italian

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Lampedusa, Giuseppe Tomasi. Il Gattopard [The Leopard]. Feltrinelli, 1958, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Lampedusa, Giuseppe. The Leopard, translated by Archibald Colquhoun. Pantheon, 2007, ch. 1.

The season of ships is here,
The west wind and the swallows;
Flowers in the fields appear,
And the ocean of hills and hollows
Has calmed its waves and is clear.
Free that anchor and chain!
Set your full canvas flying,
O men in the harbor lane:
It is I, Pirapus crying.
Sail out on your trades again!

Leonidas of Tarentum

Spring on the Coast

More information about this quote

Topic

Spring Seasons

Author

Leonidas of Tarentum

Source

Spring on the Coast

Medium

Poem

Language

Greek

Time

200 BC 200s BC 3rd century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Leonidas of Tarentum. Spring on the Coast. 3rd century BC.

Current Citation

Leonidas of Tarentum. "Spring on the Coast." The Greek Anthology, translated by Clive Sansom, edited by Peter Jay. Penguin Classics, 1973.

Insurrection-by means of guerrilla bands-is the true method of warfare for all nations desirous of emancipating themselves from a foreign yoke.

Giuseppe Mazzini

More information about this quote

Topic

Anti-imperialism Rebellion Political theory

Author

Giuseppe Mazzini

Language

Italian

Time

1833 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Mazzani, Giuseppe. General Instructions for the Members of Young Italy. 1831, sect. 4.

The arousing from sleep, after a recent misfortune, is a bitter moment; the mind at first habitually recurs to its previous tranquility, but is soon depressed by the thought of the contrast that awaits it.

Alessandro Manzoni

The Betrothed

Buy The Betrothed at Amazon Buy The Betrothed at Amazon
Read The Betrothed at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Hard times Waking up Sleep

Author

Alessandro Manzoni

Source

The Betrothed

Medium

Novel

Language

Italian

Time

1842 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Manzoni, Alessandro. I promessi sposi [The Betrothed]. Brusselle: Meline, Cans e Compagnia, 1842, ch. 2.

Current Citation

Manzoni, Alessandro. The Betrothed, translated by Michael F. Moore. Modern Library, 2022, ch. 2.

Perspective is the bridle and rudder of painting.

Leonardo da Vinci

Buy The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci at Amazon Buy The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci at Amazon
Read The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, Complete at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Painting

Author

Leonardo da Vinci

Source

Journals of Leonardo da Vinci

Medium

Personal journal

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

Italian

Time

1519 1510s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Da Vinci, Leonardo. Italian Manuscripts, Bibliotheque Nationale. 1519, MS 2038, Bib. Nat. 13 r.

Current Citation

Da Vinci, Leonardo. Leonardo da Vinci: Notebooks. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Whoever is responsible for another's becoming powerful ruins himself.

Niccolo Machiavelli

The Prince

Buy The Prince at Amazon Buy The Prince at Amazon
Read The Prince at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Power

Author

Niccolo Machiavelli

Source

The Prince

Medium

Treatise

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Language

Italian

Time

1513 1510s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Machiavelli, Niccolò. Il Principe [The Prince]. Rome: Antonio Blado d'Asola, 1532.

Current Citation

Machiavelli, Nicolò. The Prince, translated by Peter Bondanella. Oxford University Press, 2005.

Law: an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community.

St. Thomas Aquinas

Summa Theologicae

Buy the Summa Theologica at Amazon Buy the Summa Theologica at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of law

Author

St. Thomas Aquinas

Source

Summa Theologicae

Genre

Religious literature

Statement Type

Definition

Language

Latin

Time

1273 1270s 13th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Saint Thomas Aquinus. Summa Theologica. c. 1274, pt. 1-2.

Current Citation

Saint Thomas Aquinus. The Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Provinc. Christian Classics, 1981, pt. 1-2.

Remember that no man loses other life than that which he lives, nor lives other than that which he loses.

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

Buy Meditations at Amazon Buy Meditations at Amazon
Read Meditations at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Life

Author

Marcus Aurelius

Source

Meditations

Medium

Personal journal

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

180 180s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations. c. 180, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations, edited and translated by Martin Hammond. Penguin Classics, 2015, bk. 2.

The first beginnings of things cannot be distinguished by the eye.

Lucretius

On the Nature of Things

Buy On The Nature of Things at Amazon Buy On The Nature of Things at Amazon
Read On the Nature of Things at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

New beginnings

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. 268.

Current Citation

Carus, Titus Lucretius. The Nature of Things, translated by Alicia Stallings. Penguin Classics, 2007, bk. 1, l. 268.

Men of genius sometimes accomplish most when they work the least.

Leonardo da Vinci

Quoted in Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, by Giorgio Vasari

More information about this quote

Topic

Success Work Leisure

Speaker

Leonardo da Vinci

Author

Giorgio Vasari

Source

Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects

Genre

Biography

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

Italian

Time

1568 1560s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Vasari, Giorgio. Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori [The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects]. Vol 2, Florence: Giunti, 1568.

Current Citation

Vasari, Giorgio. Lives of the Artists, translated by George Bull. Vol. 1, Penguin Classics, 1988.

Painting is poetry which is seen and not heard, and poetry is a painting which is heard but not seen.

Leonardo da Vinci

More information about this quote

Topic

Poetry Painting Art

Author

Leonardo da Vinci

Source

A Treatise on Painting

Medium

Personal journal

Language

Italian

Time

1519 1510s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Da Vinci, Leonard. Tratto della pittura [A Treatise on Painting]. Raffaelo du Fresne, 1651.

Current Citation

Da Vinci, Leonardo. A Treatise on Painting, translated by John Francis Rigaud. Dover Publications, 2005.