I beg you to follow your star, do not let things slide – not even an iota – for anything in the world because I believe now, I have always believed and I shall continue to believe that what Boccaccio says is true: it is better to act and regret than not to act and regret it.

Machiavelli                 

The good reader should bear in mind that our hero is very young, rather new to or devoid of any experience; but all this does not prevent us from feeling a sense of distress when we are forced to recognize that he was still weak enough to become indignant over politics.

Stendhal