26 Quotes by Giovanni Boccaccio

You must read, you must persevere, you must sit up nights, you must inquire, and exert the utmost power of your mind. If one way does not lead to the desired meaning, take another; if obstacles arise, then still another; until, if your strength holds out, you will find that clear which at first looked dark.

La giovane, che non era di ferro né di diamante, assai agevolmente si piegò ai piaceri dello abate.

Umana cosa è l'aver compassione agli afflitti; e come che a ciascuna persona stea bene, a coloro è massimamente richiesto li quali già hanno di conforto avuto mestiere, e hannol trovato in alcuni: fra' quali, se alcuno mai n'ebbe bisogno, o gli fu caro, o già ne ricevette piacere, io son uno di quegli.

En una bandada de blancas palomas, un cuervo negro añade más belleza incluso que el candor de un cisne

In this world, you only get what you grab for.

The scholar, as wise as he was full of wrath, knowing that threats only serve as weapons to the person so threatened, kept all his resentment within his own breast [...]

Heaven would indeed be heaven if lovers were there permitted as much enjoyment as they had experienced on earth.

Do as we say, and not as we do.

While farmers generally allow one rooster for ten hens, ten men are scarcely sufficient to service one woman.