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There never was such beauty in another man.
Nature made him, and then broke the mould.

— Ludovico Ariosto Orlando Furioso (1516)

Non è un si bello in tante altre persone,
Natura il fece, e poi roppa la stampa.

Original text (Italian)

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Source: Orlando Furioso (1516), Canto X, Stanza 84. L'on peut dire sans hyperbole, que la nature, que la après l'avoir fait en cassa la moule, Angelo Constantini , La Vie de Scaramouche, line 107. (Ed. 1690)
Work: Orlando Furioso, 1516
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

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Who seems most hideous when adorned the most.

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Orlando, driven raving mad by love—and he a man who had been always esteemed for his great prudence.

Such fire was not by water to be drowned,
Nor he his nature changed by changing ground.

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Of ladies, knights, of passions and of wars,
of courtliness, and of valiant deeds I sing.

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Such fire was not by water to be drown'd,
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But that he wrought so high the specious tale,
As manifested plainly 'twas a lie.

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Of ladies, knights, of passions and of wars, I sing.

Nature broke the mould
In which she cast him.

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Topics

Men

More quotes by Ludovico Ariosto

What a man sees, Love can make invisible—and what is invisible, that can Love make him see.

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Driven raving mad by love—and he a man who had been always esteemed for his great prudence.

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For rarely man escapes his destiny.

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Ah, cruel Love! What is the reason why
You seldom make our longings correspond?
How is it, traitor, you rejoice to spy
Two hearts discordant, one repelled, one fond?

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Reflect, ye gentle dames, that much they know,
Who gain experience from another's woe.

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Attribution

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