All Francesco Guicciardini Quotes
- Ambassadors are the eye and ear of states. Ambassadors
- Experience has always shown, and reason also, that affairs which depend on many seldom succeed. Affair
- We fight to great disadvantage when we fight with those who have nothing to lose. Disadvantage
- 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… Always Falls
- ...be more guided by hope than fear. Anticipation
- 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. Ambition
- Affairs that depend on many rarely succeed. Affair
- Let no one trust so entirely to natural prudence as to persuade himself that it will suffice to guide him without help from experience. Entirely
- It is a great matter to be in authority over others; for authority, if it be rightly used, will make you feared beyond your actual… Actual
- There is nothing so fleeting as the memory of benefits received. Benefits
- 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… Abhorrent
- If you attempt certain things at the right time, they are easy to accomplish - in fact, they almost get done by themselves. If you… Accomplish
- The affairs of this world are so shifting and depend on so many accidents, that it is hard to form any judgment concerning the future;… Accidents
- As it is our nature to be more moved by hope than fear, the example of one we see abundantly rewarded cheers and encourages us… Abundantly
- Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them. Bad Friends
- The return we reap from generous actions is not always evident. Acting
- Like other men, I have sought honours and preferment, and often have obtained them beyond my wishes or hopes. Yet never have I found in… Beforehand
- Be careful how you do one man a pleasure which must needs occasion equal displeasure in another. For he who is thus slighted will not… Careful
- Conspiracies, since they cannot be engaged in without the fellowship of others, are for that reason most perilous; for as most men are either fools… Companion
- Pay no heed to those who tell you that they have relinquished place and power of their own accord, and from their love of quiet.… Accord
- Waste no time with revolutions that do not remove the causes of your complaints but simply change the faces of those in charge. Causes
- To give vent now and then to his feelings, whether of pleasure or discontent, is a great ease to a man's heart. Discontent
- 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,… Always Regain
- One who imitates what is bad always goes beyond his model; while one who imitates what is good always comes up short of it. Always Comes