11 quotes
All that boasting about family proclaims the merits of others, not one’s own.
De nobilitate (On Nobility) (1428)
If you wish to deserve illustrious titles, you must make yourself outstanding. Virtue cannot be inherited.
De nobilitate (On Nobility) (1428)
I maintain that nothing the ignorant crowd thinks in this case should be taken note of, given that it often falls into the greatest errors and that its opinions rarely agree with wisdom.
De nobilitate (On Nobility) (1428)
Wealth gathered for display represents unnecessary labor. Virtue, not beautifully adorned furniture, is the ornament of an illustrious mind.
De nobilitate (On Nobility) (1428)
Thus an abundance of goods is the greatest help to the adornment of nobility. When, under conditions of affluence, the mind is exposed to virtue, it can develop more brilliantly, and virtue can be seen more resplendently. For these reasons, nobility lies in family and in wealth.
De nobilitate (On Nobility) (1428)
Nature has established the mind as the fount of human life and as a kind of mirror, as it were; if you show it beautiful images, it will reflect beautiful images back, but if you show it base images, even baser images will appear.
De nobilitate (On Nobility) (1428)
You say that the images of your ancestors are reflected in your appearance. Do you not know that because of your folly you have nullified their reputation? Thus their splendor cannot shine fully in your shadow.
De nobilitate (On Nobility) (1428)
Thus, the best fathers do not love wicked sons but rather cast them out and reject them. Therefore, nothing from those paternal services to the country devolves upon the children if the paternal virtue does not shine in them. Just as brilliance never glitters in a dark mirror, so virtue cannot shine in the destructive and wicked children of virtuous parents.
De nobilitate (On Nobility) (1428)
Let me lead you, sweet, chaste Lucretia, into my peaceful home; although it is not full of unnecessary adornments, nonetheless it glitters everywhere with virtue, order, joy, and modesty. There, in the first place, you will see my library filled with books, in which I have always placed all my hope.
De nobilitate (On Nobility) (1428)
How much progress I made under their instruction I leave others to judge. But I can nevertheless say about myself that neither day nor night ever passed without study. The desire for knowledge was infused in me, so to speak, by nature, so that nothing seemed more worthy of my talent than pursuit of knowledge of the good.
De nobilitate (On Nobility) (1428)
Generosity is the highest goal of nobility, and he who does not have enough of the necessities of life strives in vain to practice it in relation to others. It is therefore necessary for one who wishes to be generous to be wealthy. Sustained by wealth, nobility shines through generosity and becomes more notable through the favor and kindness rendered to many.
De nobilitate (On Nobility) (1428)