Giovanni Boccaccio Quotes

Giovanni Boccaccio delivers witty, sly reflections on authority, gender and sexuality that feel like cheeky medieval jokes.

16 quotes

1. Bocca basciata non perde ventura, anzi rinnuova come fa la luna.

2. Io ho inteso che un gallo basta assai bene a diece galline, ma che diece uomini posson male o con fatica una femina sodisfare.

3. Fate quello che noi diciamo e non quello che noi facciamo.

4. Sola la miseria e senza invidia nelle cose presenti.

5. Nothing is so indecent that it cannot be said to another person if the proper words are used to convey it.

6. While farmers generally allow one rooster for ten hens, ten men are scarcely sufficient to service one woman.

7. Much is required of those who are happy, especially if they have needed comforting in the past, and have received it.

8. Kissed mouth don’t lose its fortune, on the contrary it renews itself just as the moon does.

9. To have compassion for those who suffer is a human quality which everyone should possess, especially those who have required comfort themselves in the past and have managed to find it in others.

10. Human it is to have compassion on the unhappy.

11. In the affairs of this world, poverty alone is without envy.

12. My mind is wholly possessed by Love, who rules every part there of, in virtue of his all-embracing deity.

13. It's better to repent what you enjoyed than to repent not having enjoyed anything.

14. People tend to believe the bad rather than the good.

15. Heaven would indeed be heaven if lovers were there permitted as much enjoyment as they had experienced on earth.

16. You must read, you must persevere, you must sit up nights, you must inquire, and exert the utmost power of your mind. If one way does not lead to the desired meaning, take another; if obstacles arise, then still another; until, if your strength holds out, you will find that clear which at first looked dark.