Quotes from Benvenuto Cellini

All works of nature created by God in heaven and on earth are works of sculpture.

Cats of good breed hunt better fat than lean.

Laws cannot be imposed on him who is the master of the law.

Withersoever the wheel of Fortune turns, Virtue stands firm upon her feet.

Little beginnings sometimes have great endings.

My cruel fate hath warr'd with me in vain Life, glory, worth, and all unmeasur'd skill Beauty and grace, themselves in me fulfill That many I surpass, and to the best attain.

I flung off in a passion, telling him that I would soon show him that I spoke truth. The bystanders openly declared against him, holding him for a lout, as indeed he was, and me for a man, as I had proved myself.

When the poor give to the rich, the devil laughs.

I assert that the art of sculpture, among all the arts connected with design, is at least seven times greater than any other, for the following reason: why, sir, a statue of true sculpture ought to have seven points of view, which ought all to boast equal excellence.

My answer to this was that the purest-bred cats made better mousers when they were fat than when they were starving; and in the same way honest craftsmen did much better work when they had plenty to live on.

My lords, for more than half an hour you've not stopped questioning me about some fantastic story or other; one could in fact say that you're babbling, or rambling. By babbling, I mean, that you're talking nonsense; by rambling, that you're saying nothing at all.

God only sends us evil to do us good.

Sananlaskussa sanotaan, että vahingosta viisastuu, mutta se ei pidä paikkaansa, sillä kaikki, mitä tapahtuu, uusiintuu seuraavalla kerralla aivan eri lailla eikä ollenkaan, niin kuin sitä kuvittelee.

The laws can't be enforced against the man who is the laws' master.

There are many kinds of conceit, but the chief one is to let people know what a very ancient and gifted family one descends from.