John Florio

John Florio (1553-1625) was the translator of Montaigne, born in London, of Italian parents. He was a tutor of foreign languages for some years at Oxford, and in 1581 became a member of Magdalen College and teacher of French and Italian. He published two works of a miscellaneous character, called "First Fruits" and "Second Fruits," and an English-Italian dictionary called a "World of Words," but his fame rests on his translation of Montaigne, which Shakespeare used so freely.

Wisdom & Quotes

• Night is the mother of thoughts.

- First Frutes

• England is the paradise of women, the purgatory of men, and the hell of horses.

- Second Frutes

John Lyly