Petrarch Quotes

1304–1374 Italy

Francesco Petrarca (or Petrarch) (July 20, 1304 – July 19, 1374) was an Italian Roman Catholic scholar, poet, and early humanist. Petrarch and Dante are considered the fathers of the Renaissance.

Italy
Historians
Poets

Also known as: Francesco Petrarca, Petrarca

Random Petrarch quote

83 quotes

Of my past wanderings the sole fruit is shame,
And deep repentance, of the knowledge born
That all we value in this world is naught.

The time to labor is while it is day.

Il Canzoniere (1351)

Life flees and does not stop an hour.

Il Canzoniere (1351)

One falls in love through fame.

Il Canzoniere (1351)

To obey Nature in all is best.

Il Canzoniere (1351)

This mortal life is like a meadow where the serpent lies among the flowers and grass, and if anything we see there pleases our eyes, the result is to enlime our souls more deeply.

Il Canzoniere (1351)

If it is not love, what then is it that I feel? But if it is love, before God, what kind of thing is it? If it is good, whence comes this bitter mortal effect? If it is evil, why is each torment so sweet?

Il Canzoniere (1351)

Those words had given me occupation enough, for I could not believe that it was by a mere accident that I happened upon them.

The blond tresses loosened on her neck.

Il Canzoniere (1351)

With sorrow remembering happy times.

One goes many miles to be at ease.

Il Canzoniere (1351)

Song, if you find a man at peace with love,
say: 'Die while you're happy,
since early death is no grief, but a refuge:
and he who can die well, should not delay.'

Il Canzoniere (1351)

Resembles herself and no other.

Il Canzoniere (1351)

To begin with myself, then, the utterances of men concerning me will differ widely, since in passing judgment almost every one is influenced not so much by truth as by preference, and good and evil report alike know no bounds.

The time will come when every change shall cease,
This quick revolving wheel shall rest in peace:
No summer then shall glow, not winter freeze;
Nothing shall be to come, and nothing past,
But an eternal now shall ever last.

Un bel morir tutta la vita honora.

Il Canzoniere (1351)

Oh! could I throw aside these earthly bands
That tie me down where wretched mortals sigh—
To join blest spirits in celestial lands!

[From] two lovely eyes that have bound me.

Il Canzoniere (1351)

Hitherto your eyes have been darkened and you have looked too much, yes, far too much, upon the things of earth. If these so much delight you what shall be your rapture when you lift your gaze to things eternal!

(About king David) I would like to have his Psalter in my hands and before my eyes during the day, and under my head at night and at the point of death, considering this a source of glory for me not less than for the greatest philosophers, the mimes of Sophron.

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Petrarch (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.