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People are more inclined to believe in bad intentions than in good ones.

— Giovanni Boccaccio The Decameron (1350)

La gente è più acconcia a credere il male che il bene.

Original text (Italian)

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Notes from Wikiquote

The world is readier to believe evil than good. (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.

The Decameron (1350)

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.