Scholarly Books Quotes

“Fieri autem potest ut recte quis sentiat et id, quod sentit, polite eloqui non possit; sed mandare quemquam litteris cogitationes suas, qui eas nec disponere nec illustrare possit nec delectatione aliqua adlicere lectorem, hominis est intemperanter abutentis et otio et litteris.”
― Marcus Tullius Cicero, Tusculan Disputations

“Natural love is "the desire each creature has for its own perfection," and it is by definition without error. Elective love involves free will; it can err by having a wrong object ("per malo obietto") or by being pursued with too much or too little vigor, but it avoids being the cause of sinful pleasure ("mal diletto") when it is directed to the Primal Good (God) or to secondary worldly goods in moderation ("ne' secondi sé stesso misura" [17.98]). Thus, Vergil concludes, love is the cause of every virtue or vice in man (17.103-5).”
― R. Allen Shoaf, Chaucer's Troilus & Criseyde: Subgit to Alle Poesye: Essays in Criticism