#courtier

Then the soul, freed from vice, purged by studies of true philosophy, versed in spiritual life, and practised in matters of the intellect, devoted to the contemplation of her own substance, as if awakened from deepest sleep, opens those eyes which all possess but few use, and sees in herself a ray of that light which is the true image of the angelic beauty communicated to her, and of which she then communicates a faint shadow to the body. ↗

— Baldassare Castiglione

#courtier #light #philosophy #religion #vice

Who does not know that without women we can feel no content or satisfaction throughout this life of ours, which but for them would be rude and devoid of all sweetness and more savage than that of wild beasts? Who does not know that women alone banish from our hearts all vile and base thoughts, vexations, miseries, and those turbid melancholies that so often are their fellows? ↗

— Baldassare Castiglione

#women #life

Courtiers never look like fools, or engage in hard work if they can’t make it look easy. Conquering the world is a sweaty business, and perspiration always betrays. ↗

— Benson Bruno

#funny #grace #business

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

#nonchalance #sprezzatura #design