Giacomo Casanova
Giacomo Casanova
Giacomo Girolamo Casanovawas an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, Histoire de ma vie, is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of the customs and norms of European social life during the 18th century...
NationalityItalian
ProfessionMemoirist
Date of Birth2 April 1725
CountryItaly
appearance believe favour granted pray praying seems therefore
Therefore must we pray to God, and believe that He has granted the favour we have been praying for, even when in appearance it seems the reverse.
mistake making-mistakes make-it-count
one who makes no mistakes makes nothing
sex opposites feelings
Cultivating whatever gave pleasure to my senses was always the chief business of my life; I have never found any occupation more important. Feeling that I was born for the sex opposite mine, I have always loved it and done all that I could to make myself loved by it. I have also been extravagantly fond of good food and irresistibly drawn by anything which could excite curiosity.
writing done worthy
If you have not done things worthy of being written about, at least write things worthy of being read.
broken-heart love-is views
Love is a great poet, its resources are inexhaustible, but if the end it has in view is not obtained, it feels weary and remains silent.
i-hate-you flames moths
Be the flame, not the moth.
conquer submit
I don't conquer, I submit.
inspirational teacher self
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.
intelligent men blood
I often had no scruples about deceiving nitwits and scoundrels and fools when I found it necessary. ...We avenge intelligence when we deceive a fool, and... deceiving a fool is an exploit worthy of an intelligent man. What has infused my very blood with an unconquerable hatred of the whole tribe of fools from the day of my birth is that I become a fool myself when I am in their company.
four lovers aries
The pleasure I gave my lovers was a four fifth of the pleasure I experienced.
laughing judging advice
[Malipiero's advice to Casanova.] If you wish your audience to cry, you must shed tears yourself, but if you wish to make them laugh you must contrive to look as serious as a judge.
real lying love-is
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.
eye wind fixed
The reader of these Memoirs will discover that I never had any fixed aim before my eyes, and that my system, if it can be called a system, has been to glide away unconcernedly on the stream of life, trusting to the wind wherever it led.
evil done agents
I will begin with this confession: whatever I have done in the course of my life, whether it be good or evil, has been done freely; I am a free agent.