"As therefore, when we consult, not our own pleasures, but that of our friends, our behaviour will be pleasing and agreeable; our first enquiry must be, what those particulars are, with which the greatest part of mankind are universally delighted; and what those are which, in general, they detest, as troublesome and offensive: For thus we shall easily discover, what kind of conduct, in our intercourse with others, is to be avoided, and what to be adopted and pursued."

"Now, as in the Latin and other languages, a yawning fellow is synonymous or equivalent to a negligent and sluggish fellow; this idle custom ought certainly to be avoided; being (as was observed) disagreeable to the sight, offensive to the ear, and contrary also to that natural claim, which every one has to respect. For when we indulge ourselves in this listless behaviour, we not only intimate, that the company we are in, does not greatly please us; but also make a discovery, not very advantageous to ourselves; I mean, that we are of a drowsy, lethargic disposition: which must render us by no means amiable or pleasing, to those with whom we converse."

"These kinds of habits, in good company, are so very nauseous and disgusting, that if we indulge ourselves in them, no one can be very fond of our acquaintance. So far from it, that even those, who are inclined to wish us well, must, by these and the like disagreeable customs, be entirely alienated from us.— Those ill-bred people, who expect their acquaintance to love and caress them, with all their foibles, are as absurd as a poor ragged cinder-wench; who should roll about upon an heap of ashes, scrabbling and throwing dust in the face of every one that passed by; and yet flatter herself that she should allure some youth to her embraces, by these dirty endearments; which would infallibly keep him at a distance."

"You ought to regulate your manner of behaviour towards others, not according to your own humour, but agreeably to the pleasure and inclination of those with whom you converse."

"We ought to esteem him alone an agreeable and good-natured man, who, in his daily intercourse with others, behaves in such a manner as friends usually behave to each other. For as a person of that rustic character appears, wherever he comes, like a mere stranger: so, on the contrary, a polite man, wherever he goes, seems as easy as if he were amongst his intimate friends and acquaintance."

"For tho' it is certainly more laudable, and a thing of greater moment, to be generous, constant, and magnanimous, than merely to be polite and well bred; yet we find, from daily experience, that sweetness of manners, a genteel carriage, and, polite address are frequently of more advantage to those who are so happy as to be possessed of them, than any greatness of soul or brightness of parts are to those who are adorned with those more shining talents. For those slighter accomplishments are of more frequent, or rather of constant and daily use on every occasion; as we are under a necessity of conversing daily with other people: Whereas justice, fortitude, and those other more exalted virtues, are of much less frequent occurrence. For neither is a generous or a brave man obliged to exhibit those virtues, every hour of the day (which indeed would be impossible,) neither has a wise man, or a man of great genius, an opportunity of displaying those extraordinary talents, but very rarely. As much therefore as those greater qualities exceed those more trifling accomplishments in weight and importance; so much the latter exceed the former in number and more frequent use."

"Chi mal si marita non esce mai di fatica."

"(Ben dice il proverblo ch’) egli è megllo abitare colle fiere in le spilonche, che avere in casa una femmina litlgiosa e perversa."

"Chi vuol che una piaga sfoglie bene, paghi bene il medico : n’ è vero, Maestro? e chi vuol guarir lo paghi male."

"Questa versiera vorrà pigliar due fave con una colomba."

"Usanza è di Natura, eve ella manchi In una cosa, di supplir coll’ altra."

"Mal si puo trar da la rapa sangue."

"Cercate sempre cinque pie al montone."

"Chi tutto vuole, nulla non ha."

"Ne’ piccioli suggetti è gran fatica, Ma qualunque gli esprime ornati, e chiari, Non picciol frutto del su’ ingegno coglie."

"Quest’ oltraggio è fatto ai Dei, I quai, se non han cura di se stessi, Non vi curate voi di vendicarli."

"La grand’ anima del Mondo Sta come auriga, e ’n questa cieca mole Infusa, muove le stellate sfere."

"I sogni non son altro, che van’ ombre Immaginate dal pensier del giorno."

"(Che) chi non ama l’ossa non amava."

"È ver quel che si dice Il ben e ’l mal comincia nolle fasce."

"La giusta impresa Sempre accompagna il valor delle stelle."

"Una corazza serve a cento brighe."

"Nel terren morvido Ogni ferraccio vi si ficca dentro."

"(Dice il proverbio) impara arte e virtù, E se il bisogno vien cavala su."

"Ogni laccio O sia di seta, o d’oro, o si di fune Strigne ed affoga."

"Per arte e per inganno Si vive mezzo l’anno; Per inganno e per arte Si vive l’altra parte."

"(Dice il proverbio) chi la dura la vince."

"Al gatto vecchio, Dice il proverbio, dagli topo tenero."

"Chi per l’altrui mani S’imbocca, tardi si satolla."

"Chi prima giugne al mulin, prima macina."

"Chi vuol far, vadia, e chi non vuol far, mandi."

"If displeased with any man, do all you can to prevent his seeing it, for otherwise he will become estranged. And occasions often arise when he might and would have served you had you not lost him by showing your dislike. Of this I have had experience to my own profit. For once and again I have felt ill-disposed towards some one who not being aware of my hostility has afterwards helped me when I needed help and proved my good friend."

"Con disavvantaggio grande si fa la guerra con chi non ha che perdere."

"Non combattete mai con la religione, né con le cose che pare che dependono da Dio; perché questo obietto ha troppa forza nella mente degli sciocchi."

"L'imitazione del male supera sempre l'esempio; comme per il contrario, l'imitazione del bene è sempre inferiore."

"Non è male alcuno nelle cose umane che non abbia congiunto seco qualche bene."

"Ha sempre dimostrato l'esperienza, e lo dimostra la ragione, che mai succedono bene le cose che dipendono da molti."

"Francesco Guicciardini. Counsels and Reflections (Ricordi politici e civili). Translation by Ninian Hill Thomson. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1890."

"Frank sincerity is a quality much extolled among men and pleasing to every one, while simulation, on the contrary, is detested and condemned. Yet for a man's self, simulation is of the two by far the more useful; sincerity tending rather to the interest of others. But since it cannot be denied that it is not a fine thing to deceive, I would commend him whose conduct is as a rule open and straightforward, and who uses simulation only in matters of the gravest importance and such as very seldom occur; for in this way he will gain a name for honesty and sincerity, and with it the advantages attaching to these qualities. At the same time, when, in any extreme emergency, he resorts to simulation, he will draw all the greater advantage from it, because from his reputation for plain dealing his artifice will blind men more."

"Gli ambasciadori sono l'occhio e l'orecchio degli stati."

"James Macmullen Rigg, The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio, 2 vols. (London: A. H. Bullen, 1903)"

"Thomas B. Harbottle and Philip H. Dalbiac, Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian), 2nd ed. (London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., Ltd., 1904)"

"George Henry McWilliam, Giovanni Boccaccio: The Decameron (London: Penguin Classics, 1972; 1995)"

"There are few works which have had an equal influence on literature with the Decameron of Boccaccio. Even in England its effects were powerful. From it Chaucer adopted the notion of the frame in which he has enclosed his tales, and the general manner of his stories, while in some instances, as we have seen, he has merely versified the novels of the Italian. In 1566, William Paynter printed many of Boccaccio's stories in English, in his work called the Palace of Pleasure. The first translation contained sixty novels, and it was soon followed by another volume, comprehending thirty-four additional tales. These are the pages of which Shakespeare made so much use. From Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, we learn that one of the great amusements of our ancestors was reading Boccaccio aloud, an entertainment of which the effects were speedily visible in the literature of the country. The first English translation, however, of the whole Decameron, did not appear till 1620. In France, Boccaccio found early and illustrious imitators. In his own country he brought his native tongue to perfection, and gave stability to a mode of composition, which before his time had only existed in a rude state in Italy; be collected the current tales of the age, which he decorated with new circumstances, and delivered in a style which has no parallel for elegance, naivete, and grace. Hence his popularity was unbounded, and his imitators more numerous than those of any author recorded in the annals of literature."

"Leggiadre donne, infra molte bianche colombe aggiugne più di bellezza uno nero corvo, che non farebbe un candido cigno."

"Normand R. Cartier, Boccaccio's Revenge: A Literary Transposition of the Corbaccio (The Old crow) (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1977)"

"Le forze della penna sono troppo maggiori che coloro non estimano che quelle con conoscimento provato non hanno."

"Ogni giusto re primo servatore dee essere delle leggi fatte da lui."

"Chi mal ti vuol, mal ti sogna."

"Nathaniel Griffin and Arthur Myrick, The Filostrato of Giovanni Boccaccio (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1929)"