Quotes from Giovanni Boccaccio

Por lo que tengo que deciros, señoras mías, que a quien te la hace se la hagas; y si no puedes, que no se te vaya de la cabeza hasta que lo consigas, para que lo que el burro da contra la pared lo mismo reciba.

Thus, it is quite clear that things which the natural course of events, with its small, infrequent blows, could never teach the wise to bear with patience, the immensity of this calamity made even simple people regard with indifference.

O miser, quest´è l´ora che ´nsieme n´anderete nello ´nferno! voi sarete oggi d´esto mondo fora, sanza veder di questa state il verno; e´ vostri nomi faranno dimora nel fiume dove siete, in sempiterno!».

he took her to wife, she would still study to please him, nor take umbrage at aught that he should do or say, and if she would be obedient, and many other like things, to all of which she answered ay;

la gratitud, según lo creo, es entre las demás virtudes sumamente de alabar y su contraria de maldecir

I have lost my pains, which meseemed I had right well bestowed, thinking to have converted this man; for that, an he go to the court of Rome and see the lewd and wicked life of the clergy, not only will he never become a Christian, but, were he already a Christian, he would infallibly turn Jew again.

My story, gracious ladies, will not be of folk of so high a rank as those of whom Elisa has told us, but perchance 'twill not be less touching. 'Tis brought to my mind by the recent mention of Messina, where the matter befell.

yo os pregunto, señor podestá, si él ha tomado de mí siempre lo que ha necesitado y le ha gustado, ¿qué debía hacer yo (o debo) con lo que me sobra? ¿Debo arrojarlo a los perros? ¿No es mucho mejor servírselo a un hombre noble que me ama más que a sí mismo que dejar que se pierda o se estropee?

no creo que nunca en esta ciudad han sido los hombres y las mujeres tan fastidiosos y molestos como hoy, y no hay nadie en la calle que no me desagrade como la mala ventura; y no creo que haya mujer en el mundo a quien más fastidie ver a la gente desagradable que a mí, y por no verla me he venido tan pronto.

Whenever they are reproached for such actions and for the many other disgraceful things they do, they think they can unload the heaviest charges by replying, 'Do as we say and not as we do'—as if constancy and steadfast behavior came more easily to the sheep than to their shepherds.

but I beseech you, as most I may, that you inflict not on her those pangs which you inflicted whilere on her who was sometime yours; for methinketh she might scarce avail to endure them, both because she is younger and because she hath been delicately reared, whereas the other had been in continual fatigues from a little child.

Nature has frequently planted astonishing genius in men of monstrously ugly appearance.

Tu non potrai fuggir le mie saette se l´arco tiro, o sciocca peccatrice! –

tu se´ colei che nelle tue mani hai la vita mia, e non la ti posso tôrre;

quando passaron dentro col favore degli occhi di colei

Amor mi fa parlar, che m´è nel core gran tempo stato e fatto n´ha su´ albergo

El viajero que trepa penosamente hasta la cima de un escarpado monte, goza muchísimo más cuando al término de su viaje descubre ante su vista una vasta y deliciosa llanura.

If they have a dull wit, let them not reproach the poets for their indolence, nor insist against them with frivolous barks.

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.

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

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

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

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