“I seem to you to have written everything, or at least a great deal; to myself I appear to have produced almost nothing.”

Original: Tibi omnia, vel certe multa, scripsisse videor; mihi autem paene nihil edidisse. — An ageing writer's sense that fame and inner judgement do not match. · Letter to Giovanni Boccaccio, 28 April 1373 (Latin)

• Fame
• Humility
• Writing

“What good is it to teach others if you do not first listen to yourself?”

Original: A che ti giova insegnare agli altri, se intanto tu per primo non ascolti te stesso? — A rebuke of the admired Cicero that turns moral authority inward. · Letter to Cicero, Familiares XXIV, 3 (commonly given in Italian from the Latin original)

• Advice
• Authors
• Self Knowledge

“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