Baldassare Castiglione Quotes

Italy, Diplomat
December 6, 1478 – February, 2, 1529.

Baldassare Castiglione (December 6, 1478 – February 2, 1529), count of Casatico, was an Italian courtier, diplomat, soldier and a prominent Renaissance author, who is probably most famous for his authorship of Il Cortegiano or The Book of the Courtier. The work was an example of a courtesy book, dealing with questions of the etiquette and morality of the courtier, and was very influential in 16th-century European court circles.

Also known as Writer, Soldier

Beauty, I believe, comes from God; therefore, there can be no beauty without goodness.

Baldassare Castiglione
- God
- Believe
- Beauty
Men demonstrate their courage far more often in little things than in great.

Baldassare Castiglione
- Great
- Men
- Courage

Outward beauty is a true sign of inner goodness. This loveliness, indeed, is impressed upon the body in varying degrees as a token by which the soul can be recognized for what it is, just as with trees the beauty of the blossom testifies to the goodness of the fruit.

Baldassare Castiglione
- True
- Soul
- Body
Obvious effort is the antithesis of grace.

Baldassare Castiglione
- Effort
- Grace
- Obvious
Practise in everything a certain nonchalance that shall conceal design and show that what is done and said is done without effort and almost without thought.

Baldassare Castiglione
- Done
- Effort
- Design
Employ in everything a certain casualness which conceals art and creates the impression that what is done and said is accomplished without effort and without its being thought about. It is from this, in my opinion, that grace largely derives.

Baldassare Castiglione
- Done
- Art
- Opinion
Take care lest perchance you fall into the mistake of thinking to gain more by being merciful than by being just; for to pardon him too easily that has transgressed is to wrong him that transgresses not.

Baldassare Castiglione
- Thinking
- Fall
- Mistake