Francesco Guicciardini Quotes
As it is our nature to be more moved by hope than fear, the example of one we see abundantly rewarded cheers and encourages us far more than the sight of many who have not been well treated disquiets us.
Guicciardini, Francesco. Counsels and Reflections of Francesco Guicciardini. Translated by Ninian Hill Thomson, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1890, maxim 120.
Francesco Guicciardini was an Italian historian and statesman. A friend and critic of Niccolò Machiavelli, he is considered one of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance. In his masterpiece, The History of Italy, Guicciardini paved the way for a new style in historiography with his use of government sources to support arguments and the realistic analysis of the people and events of his time.