Quotes from Giacomo Casanova

I learned very early that our health is always impaired by some excess either of food or abstinence, and I never had any physician except myself

My errors will point to thinking men the various roads, and will teach them the great art of treading on the brink of the precipice without falling into it.

Man is free; but not unless he believes he is[.]

[H]appy or miserable, life is the only blessing which man possesses[.

I found that the writer who says SUBLATA LUCERNA NULLUM DISCRIMEN INTER MULIERES ('when the lamp is taken away, all women are alike') says true; but without love, this great business is a vile thing.

For my future I have no concern, and as a true philosopher, I never would have any, for I know not what it may be: as a Christian, on the other hand, faith must believe without discussion, and the stronger it is, the more it keeps silent.

I don't conquer, I submit.

It is only necessary to have courage, for strength without self-confidence is useless.

To Kiss : An attempt to absorb the essence of the other person.

Should I perchance still feel after my death, I would no longer have any doubt, but I would most certainly give the lie to anyone asserting before me that I was dead.

I am bound to add that the excess in too little has ever proved in me more dangerous than the excess in too much; the last may cause indigestion, but the first causes death.

I have had friends who have acted kindly towards me, and it has been my good fortune to have it in my power to give them substantial proofs of my gratitude.

There is no such thing as destiny. We ourselves shape our lives.

In one text Casanova sees that women are responsible for Don Giovanni's evil deeds: The blame lies entirely with the female sex for bewitching his mind and enslaving his heart. Oh, seducing sex! Source of pain! Let a poor innocent person go in peace.

Real love is the love that sometimes arises after sensual pleasure: if it does, it is immortal; the other kind inevitably goes stale, for it lies in mere fantasy.

Marriage is the tomb of love