Francesco Guicciardini
Francesco Guicciardini
Francesco Guicciardiniwas an Italian historian and statesman. A friend and critic of Niccolò Machiavelli, he is considered one of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance. In his masterpiece, The History of Italy, Guicciardini paved the way for a new style in historiography with his use of government sources to support arguments and the realistic analysis of the people and events of his time...
NationalityItalian
ProfessionHistorian
Date of Birth6 March 1483
CountryItaly
He who imitates what is evil always goes beyond the example that is set; on the contrary, he who imitates what is good always falls short.
Few revolutions succeed, and when they do, you often discover they did not gain what you hoped for, and you condemn yourself to perpetual fear, as the parties you defeated may always regain power and work for your ruin.
One who imitates what is bad always goes beyond his model; while one who imitates what is good always comes up short of it.
I know no man who feels deeper disgust than I do at the ambition, avarice, and profligacy of the priesthood, as well because every one of these vices is odious in itself, as because each of them separately and all of them together are utterly abhorrent in men making profession of a life dedicated to God.
...be more guided by hope than fear.
There is nothing so fleeting as the memory of benefits received.
How much luckier than all the rest of mankind are the astrologers who, if they tell one truth among a hundred lies, obtain so much credit that even their lies are believed.
He is less likely to be mistaken who looks forward to a change in the affairs of the world than he who regards them as firm and stable.
There is no evil in human affairs that has not some good mingled with it. [It., Non e male alcuno nelle cose umane che non abbia congiunto seco qualche bene.]
By numberless examples it will evidently appear that human affairs are as subject to change and fluctuation as the waters of the sea agitated by the winds.
Keep your eye fixed not so much on what they [people] ought in reason to do, as on what they are likely to do based on their disposition and habits.
Ambition is not in itself an evil; nor is he to be condemned whose spirit prompts him to seek fame by worthy and honourable ways.
We fight to great disadvantage when we fight with those who have nothing to lose.
Experience has always shown, and reason also, that affairs which depend on many seldom succeed.