All cities, all states, all reigns are mortal; everything, either by its nature or by accident, comes to an end. And so a citizen who finds himself living in the final stages of his country’s existence should not feel as sorry for it as he should feel for himself. What happened to his country was inevitable; but to be born at a time when such a disaster came to pass was his own particular misfortune.
—- Francesco Gucciardini
Francesco Guicciardini; 6 March 1483 – 22 May 1540) was an Italian historian and statesman. A friend and critic of Niccolò Machiavelli, he is considered one of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance. In his masterpiece, The History of Italy, Guicciardini paved the way for a new style in historiography with his use of government sources to support arguments and the realistic analysis of the people and events of his time.
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed . . .
