Chi ha nimici potenti, dee per salvar se et ofTender loro, credere ferniamente due cose, verso di se contrarie; l’una che sieno arditi e prudenti, l’altra che con tutta la prudenza loro possano essi parimente errare.
• Translation: He who has powerful enemies should, for his own protection and their undoing, firmly believe two things, apparently contradictory; first that they are both bold and prudent, and secondly that with all their prudence they are capable of making mistakes." - Meaning and context.">
P. 510.
 • Translation reported in Harbottle's Dictionary of quotations French and Italian (1904), p. 265.
“

Chi ha nimici potenti, dee per salvar se et ofTender loro, credere ferniamente due cose, verso di se contrarie; l’una che sieno arditi e prudenti, l’altra che con tutta la prudenza loro possano essi parimente errare.
• Translation: He who has powerful enemies should, for his own protection and their undoing, firmly believe two things, apparently contradictory; first that they are both bold and prudent, and secondly that with all their prudence they are capable of making mistakes.

— Giovanni Francesco Lottini

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Chi ha nimici potenti, dee per salvar se et ofTender loro, credere ferniamente due cose, verso di se contrarie; l’una che sieno arditi e prudenti, l’altra che con tutta la prudenza loro possano essi parimente errare.
• Translation: He who has powerful enemies should, for his own protection and their undoing, firmly believe two things, apparently contradictory; first that they are both bold and prudent, and secondly that with all their prudence they are capable of making mistakes." in the context of "P. 510.
 • Translation reported in Harbottle's Dictionary of quotations French and Italian (1904), p. 265." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Giovanni Francesco Lottini" (Quotes, Avvedimenti Civili (published 1574)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

About Giovanni Francesco Lottini

Giovanni (Giovanfrancesco) Francesco Lottini (1512 – August 1572) was an Italian politician, writer and Catholic Bishop.