That is why all great men are modest: they consistently measure themselves not in comparison to other people but to the idea of perfection ever present in their minds, an ideal infinitely clearer and greater than any common people have, and they also realize how far they are from fulfilling their ideal.
Giacomo LeopardiMen do not so much hate an evil-doer, or evil itself, as they hate the man who calls evil by its real name.
Giacomo LeopardiWe remember childhood as the fabulous years of our lives, and nations remember their childhood as fabulous years.
Giacomo Leopardi