Best 20 quotes of Vittorio Alfieri on MyQuotes

A conquering king will banish from his breast hatred towards one whom he no longer fears.

Alas, 'tis force alone that can compel to virtuous actions a degenerate people.

A usurper always distrusts the whole world.

Disgrace does not consist in the punishment, but in the crime.

For one to grasp, whatever be his object, sov'reign power ... is an act of perilous presumption.

For 'tis impossible Hate to return with love.

Heaven takes care that no man secures happiness by crime.

If ardent passions push not men on to lofty enterprise, calm wisdom never will accomplish it.

Joy, when it is excessive, overcomes as much as grief.

Liars are always most disposed to swear.

Often the test of courage is not to die but to live.

Original thoughts can be understood only in virtue of the unoriginal elements which they contain.

That blood which thou hast spill'd, should join you closely in an eternal bond.

The guilty is he who meditates a crime; the punishment is his who lays the plot.

There is a silence, the child of love, which expresses everything, and proclaims more loudly than the tongue is able to do; there are movements that are involuntary proofs of what the soul feels.

The talent of making friends is not equal to the talent of doing without them.

Thou knowest not the endless artifices of a court. Invented crimes are often there alleged; but real ones, and those especially, which may offend his pride, are oftentimes not to a king divulged.

To err is human; but contrition felt for the crime distinguishes the virtuous from the wicked.

Where there are laws, he who has not broken them need not tremble.

Often the test of courage becomes rather to live than to die.