The man who has sufficient power over himself to wait until his nature has recovered its even balance is the truly wise man, but such beings are seldom met with.
Giacomo CasanovaRead
Beauty without wit offers nothing but the enjoyment of its material charms, whilst witty ugliness captivates by the charms of the mind, and at last fulfils all the desires of the man it has captivated.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True beauty combines physical appearance with intelligence and wit.
Giacomo Casanova emphasizes that superficial beauty, devoid of intelligence or wit, is ultimately unfulfilling. In contrast, a person who may lack conventional beauty but possesses sharp wit can captivate and satisfy deeper desires, suggesting that true allure lies in the substance of one's character and intellect rather than mere appearance.
Themes
BeautyWitIntelligenceDesireCharm
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of character, one might quote Casanova to highlight the value of intelligence over mere looks.
More from Giacomo Casanova
All quotes βI have met with some of them - very honest fellows, who, with all their stupidity, had a kind of intelligence and an upright good sense, which cannot be the characteristics of fools.
Giacomo CasanovaRead
From that moment our love became sad, and sadness is a disease which gives the death-blow to affection.
Giacomo CasanovaRead
The mind of a human being is formed only of comparisons made in order to examine analogies, and therefore cannot precede the existence of memory.
Giacomo CasanovaRead
For my future I have no concern, and as a true philosopher, I never would have any, for I know not what it may be: as a Christian, on the other hand, faith must believe without discussion, and the stronger it is, the more it keeps silent.
Giacomo CasanovaRead
I have had friends who have acted kindly towards me, and it has been my good fortune to have it in my power to give them substantial proofs of my gratitude.
Giacomo CasanovaRead
Similar quotes
The newspaper stories were like dreams to us, bad dreams dreamt by others. How awful, we would say, and they were, but they were awful without being believable. They were too melodramatic, they had a dimension that was not the dimension of our lives. We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories.
Margaret AtwoodRead
What about the rest of your life?" She shrugged. "What about it?" "Aren't you worried about, like, forever?" "Forever is composed of nows," she says.
John GreenRead
Complete possession is proved only by giving. All you are unable to give possesses you.
Andre GideRead
One could only damage oneself through the harm one did to others. One could never get directly at oneself.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Alfred Lord TennysonRead
You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.
Samuel JohnsonRead