Giovanni Boccaccio Quotations

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.

Human it is to have compassion on the unhappy.

People tend to believe the bad rather than the good.

Although love dwells in gorgeous palaces, and sumptuous apartments, more willingly than in miserable and desolate cottages, it cannot be denied but that he sometimes causes his power to be felt in the gloomy recesses of forests, among the most bleak and rugged mountains, and in the dreary caves of a desert.

Do as we say, and not as we do. [Lat., Faites ce que nous disons, et ne faites pas ce que nous faisons.]

My mind is wholly possessed by Love, who rules every part there of, in virtue of his all-embracing deity.

Much is required of those who are happy, especially if they have needed comforting in the past, and have received it.

Kissed mouth don’t lose its fortune, on the contrary it renews itself just as the moon does.

No-thing less splendid than a golden sepulchre would have suited so noble a heart.

Nothing is so indecent that it cannot be said to another person if the proper words are used to convey it.

It's better to repent what you enjoyed than to repent not having enjoyed anything.

In the affairs of this world, poverty alone is without envy.

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

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.

To have compassion for those who suffer is a human quality which everyone should possess, especially those who have required comfort themselves in the past and have managed to find it in others.