I was born poor, and I learned to know want before enjoyment

From The Artist, the Philosopher, and the Warrior by Paul Strathern. Page 35.

Niccolò Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469 in Florence, in the Santo Spirito district of Oltrarno, across the river from the main center of the city. His father, Bernardo, was the illegitimate scion of an old Florentine family;

he had gone bankrupt and was thus officially barred from practicing his profession as a lawyer. Bernardo lived off the income from his small estate in the country and continued to practice his profession "under the counter" at cut-price rates.
Money was short in the Machiavelli household, and Niccolò would later recall, "I was born poor, and I learned to know want before enjoyment."