Pietro Aretino quotes

I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself. (Pietro Aretino)
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. View quote
Pietro Aretino
Yes, let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius. View quote
Pietro Aretino
If you want to annoy your neighbors, tell the truth about them. View quote
Pietro Aretino
What evil is there in seeing a man possess a woman? Why, the beasts would be more free than we! It seems to me that that which is given us by nature for our own preservation ought to be worn round the neck as a pendant and in the hat for a medal. View quote
Pietro Aretino
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. View quote
Pietro Aretino
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. View quote
Pietro Aretino
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. View quote
Pietro Aretino
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. View quote
Pietro Aretino
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. View quote
Pietro Aretino
Why should the eyes be denied what delights them most? (Pietro Aretino)
Perugia is my true fatherland because there I grew to manhood. View quote
Pietro Aretino
What evil is there in seeing a man possess a woman? Why, the beasts would be more free than we! View quote
Pietro Aretino
Why should I be ashamed to describe what nature was not ashamed to create? View quote
Pietro Aretino