Italy

Explore 329 quotes by people from Italy

Let each man pass his days in that wherein his skill is greatest.

Sextus Propertius

Elegies (Sextus Propertius)

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Topic

Talent Vocation Work

Author

Sextus Propertius

Source

Elegies (Sextus Propertius)

Medium

Poem

Language

Latin

Time

24 BC 20s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Sextus Propertius. Elegies. c. 24 BC, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Sextus Propertius. Elegies, edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Harvard University Press, 1990, bk. 2.

The ring on the finger becomes thin beneath by wearing, the fall of dripping water hollows the stone.

Lucretius

On the Nature of Things

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Topic

Effects of time Persistence

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. 312.

Current Citation

Carus, Titus Lucretius. The Nature of Things, translated by Alicia Stallings. Penguin Classics, 2007, bk. 1, l. 312.

A tree cannot grow in the sky, nor clouds be in the deep sea, nor fish live in the fields, nor can blood be in sticks nor sap in rocks.

Lucretius

On the Nature of Things

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Topic

Nature

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. 3, l. 784.

Current Citation

Carus, Titus Lucretius. The Nature of Things, translated by Alicia Stallings. Penguin Classics, 2007, bk. 3, l. 784.

The marble not yet carved can hold the form
Of every thought the greatest artist has.

Michelangelo

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Topic

Untapped potential Art

Author

Michelangelo

Source

Sonnet 15

Medium

Poem

Language

Italian

Time

1564 1560s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Michelangelo. Non ha l' ottimo artista [The Lover and the Sculptor]. c. 1623.

Current Citation

Michelangelo. "Sonnet 15: The Lover and the Sculptor." Sonnets, translated by Elizabeth Jennings. Routledge, 2002.

They change their clime, not their disposition, who run across the sea.

Horace

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Topic

Running away Change of scenery

Author

Horace

Source

Epistles 1

Medium

Letter

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Language

Latin

Time

20 BC 20s 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Horace. Epistularum liber primus [First Book of Letters]. 20 BC, bk. 1, epistle 11.

Current Citation

Horace. "Epistles." Satires and Epistles, translated by John Davie. Oxford University Press, 2011, bk. 1, epistle 11.

The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing, for it requires that we should stand ready and firm to meet onsets which are sudden and unexpected.

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

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Topic

Living well Adaptability Improvisation Life

Author

Marcus Aurelius

Source

Meditations

Medium

Personal journal

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

180 180s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations. c. 180, bk. 7.

Current Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations, edited and translated by Martin Hammond. Penguin Classics, 2015, bk. 7.

Love and the gracious heart are a single thing…
One can no more be without the other
Than the reasoning mind without its reason.

Dante Alighieri

La Vita Nuova

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Topic

Love Kindness Grace

Author

Dante Alighieri

Source

La Vita Nuova

Language

Italian

Time

1294 1290s 13th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Dante. La Vita Nuova [The New Life]. 1294, ch. 16.

Current Citation

Dante. Vita Nuova, translated by Mark Musa. Oxford University Press, 2008, ch. 16.

All wish to be learned, but no one is willing to pay the price.

Juvenal

Satires

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Topic

Hard work Sacrifice Learning Education

Author

Juvenal

Source

Satires

Medium

Poem

Genre

Satire

Language

Latin

Time

100 100s 1st century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Juvenal. Satirae [Satires]. c. 127, satire 7.

Current Citation

Juvenal. The Satires, translated by Niall Rudd. Oxford University Press, 2008, satire 7.

And they know neither sect nor idolatry, with the exception that all believe that the source of all power and goodness is in the sky, and they believe very firmly that I, with these ships and people, came from the sky, and in this belief they everywhere received me, after they had overcome their fear.

Christopher Columbus

Describing the natives of what came to be called Hispaniola.

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Topic

First contact with Native Americans

Author

Christopher Columbus

Medium

Letter

Language

Spanish

Time

1493 1490s 15th century

Era

Age of Exploration

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Columbus, Christopher. Letter to the Sovereigns on the First Voyage. 15 Feb. 1493 - 4 Mar. 1493.

Current Citation

Columbas, Christopher. "Letter to various persons describing the results of his first voyage and written on the return journey." The Four Voyages, translated by J. M. Cohen. Penguin Classics, 1992.

To be ignorant of what happened before you were born is to be ever a child.

Cicero

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Topic

Ignorance of history History Ignorance

Author

Cicero

Source

Orator ad M. Brutum

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Latin

Time

46 BC 40s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Orator ad M. Brutum. c. 46 B. C., ch. 34, sect. 120.

All that is in harmony for you, my Universe, is in harmony with me as well. Nothing that comes at the right time for you is too early or too late for me. Everything is fruit to me that your seasons bring, Nature. All things come of you, have their being in you, and return to you.

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

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Topic

Man and the universe Man and nature

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. 4.

Current Citation

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations, edited and translated by Martin Hammond. Penguin Classics, 2015, bk. 4.

Count it the greatest sin to prefer mere existence to honor, and for the sake of life to lose the reasons for living.

Juvenal

Satires

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Topic

Honor

Author

Juvenal

Source

Satires

Medium

Poem

Language

Latin

Time

127 120s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Juvenal. Satirae [Satires]. c. 127, satire 8.

Current Citation

Juvenal. The Satires, translated by Niall Rudd. Oxford University Press, 2008, satire 8.

We are now suffering the evils of a long peace. Luxury, more deadly than war, broods over the city, and avenges a conquered world.

Juvenal

Satires

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Topic

Decadence

Author

Juvenal

Source

Satires

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

Latin

Time

127 120s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Juvenal. Satirae [Satires]. c. 127, satire 6.

Current Citation

Juvenal. The Satires, translated by Niall Rudd. Oxford University Press, 2008, satire 6.

The best ideas are common property.

Seneca the Younger

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Topic

Ideas Intellectual property

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.

Human subtlety... Will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does Nature, because in her inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous.

Leonardo da Vinci

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Topic

Elegance of nature Nature Man and nature

Author

Leonardo da Vinci

Source

Journals of Leonardo da Vinci

Medium

Personal journal

Language

Italian

Time

1519 1510s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Da Vinci, Leonardo. The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. c. 1883.

The covetous man is ever in want.

Horace

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Topic

Acquisitiveness Envy Insatiable appetite

Author

Horace

Source

Epistles 1

Medium

Letter

Language

Latin

Time

20 BC 20s 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Horace. Epistularum liber primus [First Book of Letters]. 20 BC, bk. 1, epistle 2.

Current Citation

Horace. "Epistles." Satires and Epistles, translated by John Davie. Oxford University Press, 2011, bk. 1, epistle 2.

Who hath so entire happiness that he is not in some part offended with the condition of his estate?

Boethius

The Consolation of Philosophy

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Topic

Dissatisfaction Happiness Yin and yang

Author

Boethius

Source

The Consolation of Philosophy

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Latin

Time

524 520s 6th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Boethius. De Consolatione Philosophiae [On the Consolation of Philosophy]. 524, bk. 2, poem 4.

Current Citation

Boethius. The Consolation of Philosophy, translated by Victor Watts. Penguin Classics, 1999, bk. 2, poem 4.

The years as they pass plunder us of one thing after another.

Horace

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Topic

Ravages of time Effects of time Passage of time Time

Author

Horace

Source

Epistles 2

Medium

Letter

Language

Latin

Time

14 BC 10s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Horace. Epistularum liber secundus [Second Book of Letters]. 14 BC, bk. 2, epistle 2.

Current Citation

Horace. "Epistles." Satires and Epistles, translated by John Davie. Oxford University Press, 2011, bk. 2, epistle 2.

Nothing is miserable but what is thought so, and contrariwise, every estate is happy if he that bears it be content.

Boethius

The Consolation of Philosophy

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Topic

Perception vs. reality Happiness

Author

Boethius

Source

The Consolation of Philosophy

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Latin

Time

523 520s 6th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Boethius. De Consolatione Philosophiae [On the Consolation of Philosophy]. 524, bk. 2, poem 4.

Current Citation

Boethius. The Consolation of Philosophy, translated by Victor Watts. Penguin Classics, 1999, bk. 2, poem 4.

For there is nothing that happens on earth that is more welcome to that supreme God who rules the whole universe than the institutions and congregations of men united by a sense of right, which are called states.

Cicero

On the Commonwealth

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Topic

Government Politics

Author

Cicero

Source

On the Commonwealth

Medium

Dialogue

Genre

Political literature

Language

Latin

Time

51 BC 50s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. De re publica [On the Commonwealth]. c. 51 BC, bk. 6, ch. 13.

Current Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. "The Republic." The Republic and The Laws, translated by Niall Rudd. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 6, ch. 13.