Giacomo Casanova Quotes

“As for myself, I always willingly acknowledge my own self as the principal cause of every good and of every evil which may befall me; therefore I have always found myself capable of being my own pupil, and ready to love my teacher.”

Giacomo Casanova

The new impulse given to the French nation may open new and unexpected horizons, and new beauties, fresh perfections, may spring up from new combinations and from new wants. The motto I have adopted justifies my digressions, and all the commentaries, perhaps too numerous, in which I indulge upon my various exploits: 'Nequidquam sapit qui sibi non sapit'. For the same reason I have always felt a great desire to receive praise and applause from polite society: 'Excitat auditor stadium, laudataque virtus Crescit, et immensum gloria calcar habet. I would willingly have displayed here the proud axiom: 'Nemo laeditur nisi a se ipso', had I not feared to offend the immense number of persons who, whenever anything goes wrong with them, are wont to exclaim, "It is no fault of mine!" I cannot deprive them of that small particle of comfort, for, were it not for it, they would soon feel hatred for themselves, and self-hatred often leads to the fatal idea of self-destruction. As for myself I always willingly acknowledge my own self as the principal cause of every good or of every evil which may befall me; therefore I have always found myself capable of being my own pupil, and ready to love my teacher. THE MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA CHAPTER I My Family Pedigree--My Childhood Don Jacob Casanova, the illegitimate son of Don Francisco Casanova, was a native of Saragosa, the capital of Aragon, and in the year of 1428 he carried off Dona Anna Palofax from her convent, on the day after she had taken the veil. He was secretary to King Alfonso. He ran away with her to Rome, where, after one year of imprisonment, the pope, Martin III., released Anna from her vows, and gave them the nuptial blessing at the instance of Don Juan Casanova, majordomo of the Vatican, and uncle of Don Jacob. All the children born from that marriage died in their infancy, with the exception of Don Juan, who, in 1475, married Donna Eleonora Albini, by whom he had a son, Marco Antonio. In 1481, Don Juan, having killed an officer of the king of Naples, was compelled to leave Rome, and escaped to Como with his wife and his son; but having left that city to seek his fortune, he died while traveling with Christopher Columbus in the year 1493.

The philosopher is a person who refuses no pleasures which do not produce greater sorrows, and who knows how to create new ones.

Giacomo Casanova

Man always refers everything to himself, and everyone is a tyrant in his own way. I am pleased to see you becoming a philosopher." "How can one become a philosopher?" "By thinking." "Must one think a long while?" "Throughout life." "Then it is never over?" "Never; but one improves as much as possible, and obtains the sum of happiness which one is susceptible of enjoying." "And how can that happiness be felt?" "By all the pleasure which the philosopher can procure when he is conscious of having obtained them by his own exertions, and especially by getting rid of the many prejudices which make of the majority of men a troop of grown-up children." "What is pleasure? What is meant by prejudices?" "Pleasure is the actual enjoyment of our senses; it is a complete satisfaction given to all our natural and sensual appetites; and, when our worn-out senses want repose, either to have breathing time, or to recover strength, pleasure comes from the imagination, which finds enjoyment in thinking of the happiness afforded by rest. The philosopher is a person who refuses no pleasures which do not produce greater sorrows, and who knows how to create new ones." "And you say that it is done by getting rid of prejudices? Then tell me what prejudices are, and what must be done to get rid of them." "Your question, my dear girl, is not an easy one to answer, for moral philosophy does not know a more important one, or a more difficult one to decide; it is a lesson which lasts throughout life. I will tell you in a few words that we call prejudice every so-called duty for the existence of which we find no reason in nature." "Then nature must be the philosopher's principal study?" "Indeed it is; the most learned of philosophers is the one who commits the fewest errors." "What philosopher, in your opinion, has committed the smallest quantity of errors?" "Socrates." "Yet he was in error sometimes?" "Yes, in metaphysics." "Oh! never mind that, for I think he could very well manage without that study." "You are mistaken; morals are only the metaphysics of physics; nature is everything, and I give you leave to consider as a madman whoever tells you that he has made a new discovery in metaphysics.

“Real love is the love that sometimes arises after sensual pleasure: if it does, it is immortal; the other kind inevitably goes stale, for it lies in mere fantasy.”

Giacomo Casanova

“I have always loved truth so passionately that I have often resorted to lying as a way of introducing it into the minds which were ignorant of its charms”

Giacomo Casanova

“I dont conquer, I submit.”

Giacomo Casanova

“Marriage is the tomb of love”

Giacomo Casanova

“In one text Casanova sees that women are responsible for Don Giovannis evil deeds: The blame lies entirely with the female sex for bewitching his mind and enslaving his heart. Oh, seducing sex! Source of pain! Let a poor innocent person go in peace.”

Giacomo Casanova

“Love is three quarters curiosity.”

Giacomo Casanova

lies, truth, loveI have always loved truth so passionately that I have often resorted to lying as a way of introducing it into the minds which were ignorant of its charms.

Giacomo Casanova

There is no such thing as a perfectly happy or perfectly unhappy man in the world. One has more happiness in his life and another more unhappiness, and the same circumstance may produce widely different effects on individuals of different temperaments.

Giacomo Casanova

Hope is nothing but a deceitful flatterer accepted by reason only because it is often in need of palliatives.

Giacomo Casanova

If you have not done things worthy of being written about, at least write things worthy of being read.

Giacomo Casanova

As for myself, I always willingly acknowledge my own self as the principal cause of every good and of every evil which may befall me; therefore, I have always found myself capable of being my own pupil, and ready to love my teacher.

Giacomo Casanova

We ourselve are the authors of almost all our woes and griefs, of which we so unreasonably complain.

Giacomo Casanova

It is always easy to break one’s word to oneself.

Giacomo Casanova

Be the flame, not the moth.

Giacomo Casanova

To lead a blameless life you must curb your passions , and whatever misfortune may befall you cannot be ascribed by anyone to want of good luck, or attributed to fate; these words are devoid of sense, and all fault will rightly fall on your own head.

Giacomo Casanova

There is no such thing as destiny. We ourselves shape our lives.

Giacomo Casanova

Enjoy the present, bid defiance to the future, laugh at all those reasonable beings who exercise their reason to avoid the misfortunes which they fear, destroying at the same time the pleasure that they might enjoy.

Giacomo Casanova

From that moment our love became sad, and sadness is a disease which gives the death-blow to affection.

Giacomo Casanova

Quotes by Giacomo Casanova

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