There is nothing so fleeting as the memory of benefits received.
Francesco GuicciardiniRead
Conspiracies, since they cannot be engaged in without the fellowship of others, are for that reason most perilous; for as most men are either fools or knaves, we run excessive risk in making such folk our companions.
Interpretation
Conspiracies require collaboration, which can be dangerous due to the unreliable nature of people involved.
This quote by Francesco Guicciardini emphasizes the inherent risks associated with conspiracies, highlighting that engaging in such activities necessitates the involvement of others. Since people can often be foolish or deceitful, trusting them as partners in conspiracies poses a significant danger to one's integrity and safety.
In practice
During a discussion about the importance of choosing friends wisely, one might cite this quote to illustrate the dangers of conspiratorial thinking.
There is nothing so fleeting as the memory of benefits received.
If you attempt certain things at the right time, they are easy to accomplish - in fact, they almost get done by themselves. If you undertake them before the time is right, not only will they fail, but they will often become impossible to accomplish even when the time would have been right.
He who imitates what is evil always goes beyond the example that is set; on the contrary, he who imitates what is good always falls short.
Let no one trust so entirely to natural prudence as to persuade himself that it will suffice to guide him without help from experience.
Few revolutions succeed, and when they do, you often discover they did not gain what you hoped for, and you condemn yourself to perpetual fear, as the parties you defeated may always regain power and work for your ruin.
One who imitates what is bad always goes beyond his model; while one who imitates what is good always comes up short of it.
We can conceive of eternity because we cannot conceive of a cessation of time. We can conceive of infinite space because we cannot conceive of so much matter that our imagination will not stand upon the farthest star and see infinite space beyond.
Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
Many undoubtedly owe their good fortune to the circumstance that they possess a pleasing smile with which they win hearts. Yet these hearts would do better to beware and to learn from Hamlet's tables that one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.
Like most misery, it started with apparent happiness.
Most people catch their presuppositions from their family and surrounding society the way a child catches measles. But people with more understanding realize that their presuppositions should be chosen after a careful consideration of what world-view is true.
That shoreline where the island of knowing meets the unfathomable sea of our own being is the landscape of myth.
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