“I cannot get enough of books. I may already have more than I need, yet with books, as with other things, success in finding them only whets the desire for more.”

Original: Libris satiari nequeo. Et habeo plures forte quam oportet; sed sicut in ceteris rebus, sic et in libris accidit: querendi successus avaritie calcar est. — A humanist confession of bibliophilia that treats books as living companions rather than ornaments. · Letter to Giovanni Anchiseo, Familiares III, 18 (Latin)

• Books
• Desire
• Learning

“I have always held wealth in extreme contempt, not because riches are undesirable in themselves, but because I hated the toil and anxiety that cling to them inseparably.”

Original: Divitiarum contemptor eximius: non quod divitias non optarem, sed labores curasque oderam, opum comites inseparabiles. — A self-portrait that values quiet study over the burdens of fortune. · Letter to Posterity (Posteritati) (Latin)

• Solitude
• Wealth
• Work

“Gold, silver, gems, purple cloth, a marble house and a well-tended field give only a mute and surface pleasure; books delight us through and through, they speak with us, they counsel us, and they join us in a living intimacy.”

Original: Aurum, argentum, gemme, purpurea vestis, marmorea domus, cultus ager... mutum et superficiale gaudium afferunt; libri delectant penitus, loquuntur, consulunt, viva quadam et arguta familiaritate se nobis inserunt. — Sets the companionship of reading against the silence of luxury. · Letter to Giovanni Anchiseo, Familiares III, 18 (Latin)

• Books
• Friendship
• Pleasure