Complete Works

...[thought he] had been and could be defrauded, wherefore there is no need for a discharge of these expenses. If I owe you, I shall pay the money as soon as possible. If you owe me, pay back what is due either now, if you can, or hereafter, if the means are not at hand. Benevolence toward friends. Indeed, he always treated his friends with great indulgence, and he was accustomed to use encouraging words with them toward living well. I knew a man who, while relying on his learning and reputation, spoke with him; and when the conversation turned to morals, he was so moved by only two of his words that, having deserted the path of vice, he reformed his ways. Two most wholesome remedies against vices. The words were of this sort: "If we kept before our eyes the death of Christ, suffered out of love for us, and likewise reflected upon our own death, we would beware of vices." He exhibited an admirable modesty and affability toward those whom he thought should be bound to him—not because they were proven by strength or fortune, but by affections and learning; yet he was accustomed to love those in whom he saw diligence and fitness, however little they might excel in letters or at least in the studies of the liberal arts. For likeness is the cause of love; Likeness the cause of love. and toward a wise man, as Philostratus bears witness, Apollonius says: "There is a certain affinity to perfect a man in knowledge, by which he is a man; but having attained perfection in goodness, it is not doubted that he should be loved above other upright men." Horace Furthermore, nothing was more intolerable to him than (to use the words of Horace) "the thresholds of the proud and powerful citizens." He had also detested worldly military service and the bond of marriage; and when asked in jest which burden seemed lighter to him to undergo and bear, if necessity compelled and choice were given, he, hesitating a little and nodding his head, and even smiling a tiny bit, replied "marriage"—to which there was not attached so much servitude and danger as to military service. For he loved freedom Freedom of mind beyond measure, which both a nature so disposed and the studies of philosophy had suggested to him. And for this reason, he was a wanderer especially in the autumn, and never chose a permanent home for himself, although he stayed quite often in Florence and sometimes in Ferrara. I would think he established the latter city as his domicile, because there, after Bologna, he first cultivated the study of letters, and its prince loved him wonderfully, being joined to him as if by a certain affinity—inasmuch as I was born of his sister, namely Bianca Maria d'Este Bianca Maria d'Este—nor was it too far from his homeland, since Ferrara lies only thirty miles from Mirandola toward the rising sun. The other city [Florence] he loved most and inhabited, whether for the pleasantness of the air, or the sweetness of many friends, or the subtlety of wits; among whom, with a literary love, he bound to himself two most of all: Angelo Poliziano, Marsilio Ficino. namely, Angelo Poliziano, a man most learned in Greek and Latin, filled with the flowers of various letters, and almost the champion of the Roman tongue; the other, Marsilio Ficino the Florentine, a man redolent of every kind of literature, but the greatest Platonist among those now living, whose help he had used in mastering Academic matters. He had not been very fond of the external worship of latria. We do not speak of that which the Church commanded to be observed (for we saw him perform this before our eyes), but we make mention of those ceremonies which some pursue and promote while neglecting the true worship of God, who is to be worshipped in spirit and truth. In his internal affections, he pursued God with a most fervent love. Sometimes indeed that alacrity of mind would languish and fall away, only to take up strength at another time with greater effort. I remember that he burned Fervor of love toward God from God toward God; for instance, when we were walking along long paths in a certain orchard in Ferrara, speaking of the love of Christ, he broke out into words of this sort: "I would tell you this in secret confidence: once certain of my nightly labors are finished and perfected, I shall distribute the wealth that remains to me to some of the needy, and, armed with a crucifix, wandering the world with bare and naked feet, I will preach Christ through castles and through cities." I heard afterward that he changed his purpose and decided to commit himself to the Order of Preachers; meanwhile, of those things which he [conceived...]