Giacomo Casanova Quotes

“Be the flame, not the moth.”

“Finishing first is nothing to brag about.”

“Hope is nothing but a deceitful flatterer accepted by reason only because it is often in need of palliatives.”

“A beautiful woman without a mind of her own leaves her lover with no resource after he had physically enjoyed her charms.”

“Beauty without wit offers nothing but the enjoyment of its material charms, whilst witty ugliness captivates by the charms of the mind, and at last fulfils all the desires of the man it has captivated.”

“Cheating is a sin, but honest cunning is simply prudence. It is a virtue. To be sure, it has a likeness to roguery, but that cannot be helped. He who has not learned to practice it is a fool.”

“Death is a monster that chases the rapt spectator from the theater before the play he is watching with infinite interest has ended.”

“Desires are but pain and torment, and enjoyment is sweet because it delivers us from them.”

“Happiness is gained by complying with the duties of whatever condition of life one is in, and you must constrain yourself to rise to that exalted station in which destiny has placed you.”

“Happy are those who know how to obtain pleasures without injury to anyone; insane are those who fancy that the Almighty can enjoy the sufferings, the pains, the fasts and abstinences which they offer to Him as a sacrifice,”

“He knows nothing who does not profit from what he knows.”

“I always willingly acknowledge my own self as the principal cause of every good and of every evil which may befall me; therefore, I have always found myself capable of being my own pupil, and ready to love my teacher.”

“I have loved women even to madness, but I have always loved liberty better.”

“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.”

“In fact, I do not believe there is an honest man alive without some pretension.”

“It is always easy to break one’s word to oneself.”

“It is shallow desires which make a young man bold; strong desires confound him.”

“My great treasure is that I am my own master, that I am not dependent upon anyone, and that I am not afraid of misfortunes.”

“One who makes no mistakes makes nothing at all.”

“The longer you remain in Rome, the smaller you will find it.”