Francesco Petrarch

"I am not what I was, nor what I should be."

"There is nothing so beautiful as that which comes unexpected."

"A lonely man is a pitiful object; even the gods agree on this."

"Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds."

"The experience of a single day can be sufficient for the events of many years."

"Every man is the architect of his own fortune."

"In the evening of life we shall be judged on love alone."

"Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things."

"The will of man is his happiness."

"He who is afraid of doing too much always does too little."

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

"Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life."

"I have seen great beauty in women's faces, but greater still in their character."

"The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses."

"Hope itself is a species of happiness."

"Spiritual progress is impossible without struggle."

"I have learned that to be a noble person, one must develop inner strength."

"The fruits of victory are tasted only by those who bleed to achieve them."

"True power lies not in commanding others, but in understanding oneself."

"Wealth consists not in having riches, but in having a contented mind."

"The highest form of courage is to bear up against despair with a smile."

"I have sought truth in the depths of my own heart and found there the wisdom of ages."

"Solitude is a fine meal which becomes a nightmare when eaten every day."

"Nothing is hard to those who will; nothing is impossible to the valiant."

"Kind words are short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless."

"The human spirit can endure immense hardships and deprivations if it keeps hope alive."

"I came to understand that freedom is the most precious gift life can offer."

"The pen is mightier than the sword in expressing truth."

"Youth is a state of mind, not years of life."

"One man's meat is another man's poison; such is the diversity of human nature."