Giovanni Vico

"Time is the stage upon which all human actions are performed."

"The beginning of all knowledge is wonder at the things we see."

"Authority and reason are the two pillars upon which law rests."

"The human spirit is never satisfied with what it has achieved."

"Truth emerges from the conflict of opposing views."

"Nations, like individuals, are born, grow, flourish, and decline."

"The study of history is the best preparation for understanding the present."

"Divine providence guides the course of human history."

"Custom and tradition are the guardians of social order."

"The essence of all being is motion and change."

"To understand a thing, we must understand its origins and development."

"The ideal of the human mind is the contemplation of eternal truths."

"Commerce and trade are the sinews of civilization."

"The family is the first society, the mother of all other societies."

"Religious faith is the foundation of all moral virtue."

"The strongest link in the chain of human development is education."

"War and conflict arise from the struggle for dominion."

"The senses are the gates through which knowledge enters the mind."

"Every man desires happiness, yet few understand what it truly is."

"The pursuit of truth requires courage and perseverance."

"Human beings are the only creatures capable of understanding their own nature."

"The cycles of history repeat themselves in different forms."

"The will of God is expressed through the natural order of things."

"Literature preserves the wisdom and experience of all ages."

"The passion for knowledge is the highest human aspiration."

"Society is formed through the gradual development of human reason."

"The measure of a civilization is its treatment of the weak and vulnerable."

"Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority."

"The human mind naturally seeks order and pattern in all things."

"Virtue is the art of living well in accordance with reason."