Cosimo de' Medici

About Cosimo de' Medici

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“We read that we ought to forgive our enemies; but we do not read that we ought to forgive our friends.”
— Attributed to Cosimo de' Medici, Duke of Florence, in Apothegms by Francis Bacon, (1624) No. 206
“There is in gardens a plant which one ought to leave dry, although most people water it. It is the weed called envy.”
— Attributed to Cosimo de' Medici in: Jean Lucas-Dubreton (1961). Daily Life in Florence in the Time of the Medici. p. 58
“All those things [meaning works of art] have given me the greatest satisfaction and contentment because they are not only for the honor of God but are likewise for my own remembrance. For fifty years, I have done nothing else but earn money and spend money; and it became clear that spending money gives me greater pleasure than earning it.”
— Attributed to Cosimo de' Medici by Salviati; as cited in Taylor, F.H. (1948). The taste of angels, a history of art collecting from Rameses to Napoleon. Boston: Little, Brown. pp. 65–66.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.