The New Science 241 (1744)
“
Men first feel necessity, then look for utility, next attend to comfort, still later amuse themselves with pleasure, thence grow dissolute in luxury, and finally go mad and waste their substance. (Gli uomini prima sentono il necessario, dipoi badanoall’utile, appresso avvertiscono il comodo, più innanzi sidilettano del piacere, quindi si dissolvono nel lusso, e finalmente impazzano in istrappazzar le sostanze.)
— Giambattista Vico
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Men first feel necessity, then look for utility, next attend to comfort, still later amuse themselves with pleasure, thence grow dissolute in luxury, and finally go mad and waste their substance. (Gli uomini prima sentono il necessario, dipoi badanoall’utile, appresso avvertiscono il comodo, più innanzi sidilettano del piacere, quindi si dissolvono nel lusso, e finalmente impazzano in istrappazzar le sostanze.)" in the context of "The New Science 241 (1744)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Giambattista Vico" (Quotes)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Giambattista Vico
Giambattista Vico (born Giovan Battista Vico 23 June 1668 – 23 January 1744) was an Italian political philosopher and rhetorician, historian and jurist, of the Age of Enlightenment. He criticized the expansion and development of modern rationalism, was an apologist for Classical Antiquity, a precursor of systematic and complex thought, in opposition to Cartesian analysis and other types of reductionism, and was the first expositor of the fundamentals of social science and of semiotics.
About Giambattista Vico
Giambattista Vico (born Giovan Battista Vico 23 June 1668 – 23 January 1744) was an Italian political philosopher and rhetorician, historian and jurist, of the Age of Enlightenment. He criticized the expansion and development of modern rationalism, was an apologist for Classical Antiquity, a precursor of systematic and complex thought, in opposition to Cartesian analysis and other types of reductionism, and was the first expositor of the fundamentals of social science and of semiotics.
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