Francesco Petrarch

"A man of wise and noble character is prevented by conscience from doing many things that are permitted by law."

"It is more honorable to be raised to a throne than to be born to one."

"Who overindulges in the present moment loses the future."

"Five enemies of peace inhabit with us: avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride."

"Nothing is so unbelievable that oratory cannot make it acceptable."

"To be everywhere is to be nowhere."

"The years teach us much which the days never knew."

"How unbecoming it is for a man to be always busy and occupied."

"Suspicion is the poison of friendship."

"Hope itself is a species of happiness."

"The mind is the image of God, since the mind alone in all creation is capable of understanding."

"One day it will all make sense. So for now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, and keep reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason."

"Avoid idleness and do not let too much rest weary you."

"I myself have never been able to decide whether my dreams are the result of my thoughts, or my thoughts the result of my dreams."

"Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead. It is going on all the time."

"Living in the world without using the arts is like living in the world without using your eyes."

"My great difficulty is to feel alive and to give living meaning."

"Posterity will owe the debt to you which you have owed to the ancients."

"It is madness to hate all roses because you were pricked by one thorn."

"Nothing so forcibly restrains a man from violence and lawlessness as reverence for the Divine."

"The greatest wealth is a poverty of desires."

"There is no greater glory than love."

"He who loves not lives not."

"My sole concern is the happiness of those who love me."

"Four things a man must learn to do if he would make any great mark in this world: to think clearly without hurry or confusion; to write clearly without effort; to speak clearly without low muttering and adjusting; and to command himself always."

"Rarely do we hear of a man who has made one fortune and kept it."

"True friendship is a plant of slow growth."

"Nothing gives a man more courage and a greater boldness than the consciousness of possessing a truth."

"We are aware of wonders we never see."

"Every noble activity makes room for the sentiment of beauty."