The Medici Return Quotes

“A Medici in the royal line that traced all the way back to Cosimo de’ Medici, Cosimo I, who traced his heritage back to Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici, the founder and originator of the Medici Bank. Cosimo I ruled for thirty-two years and was an ardent supporter of Pope Pius V who, in 1569, declared him the first Grand Duke of Tuscany. For the next 168 years a Medici sat on the throne. Francesco. Ferdinando. Cosimo II. Ferdinando II. Cosimo III. Gian Gastone. All Medici. Gian died without heirs, which ended the Medici hold on the duchy with Gian’s sister, Anna Maria, hiding her legitimate, royal Medici heir.”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“For Machiavelli people acquired power in five ways. By conquest, virtue, fortune, crimes, or popular selection.”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“Historians agreed that Lorenzo de’ Medici was indeed something of a tyrant. Guilty of a multitude of sins that included the hijacking of Florentine foreign affairs, manipulation of government debt, tampering with the courts, purloining of public moneys, filling key offices with cronies, and debasement of the coinage. His form of Florentine government depended on compliance and cooperation, whether freely given, bought, or coerced. Didn’t matter which. Granted, the oppressive political system had existed long before Lorenzo, but he made the most of what he inherited. So it seemed easy to say the Pazzi may have been justified, since political assassination was the norm for change in the fifteenth century. He”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“Eric knew his history. Cosimo III died in 1723. Six days before his death he issued a proclamation commanding that Tuscany remain independent and that Anna should succeed to the throne after her brother, Gian, died. Ultimately, the monarchs of Europe failed to respect his wishes, and her brother, for years, made her life miserable. Finally, she abandoned her apartment in the royal palace and left Florence. When her brother drew his last breath in 1737, the great powers of Europe gave Tuscany to the Duke of Lorraine. Anna Maria was totally ignored. “She”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“Never cut what you can untie. Advice passed down from Cosimo himself.”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“The promise given was a necessity of the past. The word broken is a necessity of the present.”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“Emperor Constantine who, in the 4th century, called the bishops of all the various Christian factions to Nicaea and ordered them to hammer out one doctrine,”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“intel network on her.” “We have learned”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“Keep your mouth shut and your ears open and you’ll learn a lot.”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“We must dearly love Florence, for she is the mother of all those who live by thought. We must study her without ceasing, for she offers us an inexhaustible source of instruction.”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“Necessity does not make a good bargain.”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“Proverbs 14:15 was right. Fools believe every word they hear, but wise people think carefully about everything. And he was no fool. So”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“Cotton, did I ever tell you about a barber who whispers to his customer, ‘Let me show you something. This is the most foolish kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.’ The barber laid a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then called a young boy over and asked, ‘Which do you want, son?’ The boy immediately took the quarters and left. ‘What did I tell you?’ the barber said. ‘That kid never learns.’ Later, when that customer left the barbershop, he saw the same boy coming out of the ice cream store. ‘Hey, son, may I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?’ The boy licked his favorite ice cream and said, ‘Because the day I take the dollar, the game is over.”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“The Rockford Files. That plant is so obvious it needs watering.”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return

“Ben Franklin said it best. Distrust and caution are the parents of security.”
― Steve Berry, The Medici Return