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Every person born into this world has a natural right to sustain, preserve, and defend his own life to the best of his ability.

— Giovanni Boccaccio The Decameron (1350)

Natural ragione è di ciascuno che ci nasce, la sua vita, quanto può, aiutare e conservare e difendere.

Original text (Italian)

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Notes from Wikiquote

It is the natural instinct of every creature that is born, to foster, preserve and defend his own life. (tr. Harbottle and Dalbiac)

More quotes by Giovanni Boccaccio

In the affairs of this world, poverty alone is without envy.

The Decameron (1350)

A sweet little mouth with lips like rubies.

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Nobility cannot descend to us as an inheritance, except as do virtue, knowledge, holiness, and such like things.

The ass gets back from the wall as good as he gives.

They boosted themselves with such nauseating self-praise as to make the stones jump out of the walls and flee.

Il Corbaccio (1355)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Giovanni Boccaccio (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.