Giovanni Boccaccio

Literature Italian 1313 – 1375 99 quotes

An Italian writer, poet, and important Renaissance humanist, author of The Decameron.

Quotes by Giovanni Boccaccio

It is an old custom among men to be ashamed of poverty, but not of wealth, however acquired.

The Decameron 1353

Love is a more powerful motivator than fear.

The Decameron 1353

The greatest joy a man can know is to conquer himself.

The Decameron 1353

Fortune often delights to make sport of us, and to show us that she is mistress of all things.

The Decameron 1353

There is no greater sorrow than to recall a time of happiness in misery.

The Decameron 1353

Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue, to the end that we should hear and see more than we speak.

The Decameron 1353

He who fears to suffer, suffers already because he fears.

The Decameron 1353

To have a good wife is the best gift of God.

The Decameron 1353

The wise man is he who knows that he knows nothing.

The Decameron 1353

Beauty is a short-lived tyranny.

The Decameron 1353

Patience is the companion of wisdom.

The Decameron 1353

It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.

The Decameron 1353

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.

The Decameron 1353

There is no remedy for love but to love more.

The Decameron 1353

A good book is the best of friends, the same today and forever.

The Decameron 1353

He who does not punish evil, commands it to be done.

The Decameron 1353

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.

The Decameron 1353

Ignorance is the mother of all evils.

The Decameron 1353

The more you know, the more you know you don't know.

The Decameron 1353

True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have seen.

The Decameron 1353