Pietro Aretino

I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself.

Flattery and deceit are the darlings of great men, and so with these men spread the butter on thick, if you want to get something out of them, otherwise you'll come home to me with a full belly and an empty purse.

What evil is there in seeing a man possess a woman? Why, the beasts would be more free than we!

If you want to annoy your neighbors, tell the truth about them.

Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.

With a goose-quill and a few sheets of paper, I mock myself of the universe. They say I am the son of a courtesan; it may be so, but I have the heart of a King. I live free, I enjoy myself, I can call myself happy.

A high heart ought to bear calamities and not flee them, since in bearing them appears the grandeur of the mind and in fleeing them the cowardice of the heart.

Perugia is my true fatherland because there I grew to manhood.

I am a free man. I do not need to copy Petrarca or Boccaccio. My own genius is enough. Let others worry themselves about style, and so cease to be themselves. Without a master, without a model, without a guide, I go to work and earn my living, my well-being and my fame.

Why should the eyes be denied what delights them most?

I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies.

I keep my friends as misers do their treasure, because, of all the things granted us by wisdom, none is greater or better than friendship.