77 Quotes & Sayings By Dante Alighieri

Those ancients who in poetry presented the golden age, who sang its happy state, perhaps, in their Parnassus, dreamt this place. Here, mankind's root was innocent; and herewere every fruit and never-ending spring; these streams--the nectar of which poets sing. Dante Alighieri

Behave like men, and not like witless sheep... Dante Alighieri

The wish to hear such baseness is degrading. Dante Alighieri

Oh human creatures, born to soar aloft, Why fall ye thus before a little wind? Dante Alighieri

I felt for the tormented whirlwinds Damned for their carnal sins Committed when they let their passions rule their reason. Dante Alighieri

Within her presence, I had once been usedto feeling–trembling–wonder, dissolution;but that was long ago. Still, though my soul, now she was veiled, could not see her directly, by way of hidden force that she could move, I felt the mighty power of old love. Dante Alighieri

…I am left with lessthan one drop of my blood that does not tremble. I recognize the the signs of the old flame. Dante Alighieri

There is no greater sorrow than to recall our time of joy in wretchedness. Dante Alighieri

When you are nearer, you will understand how much your eyesight is deceived by distance. Therefore, push yourself a little harder. Dante Alighieri

And what will bow your shoulders downwill be the vicious and worthless company with whom you will fall into this abyss. Dante Alighieri

Here sighs and cries and shrieks of lamentation echoed throughout the starless air of Hell;at first these sounds resounding made me weep:tongues confused, a language strained in anguishwith cadences of anger, shrill outcriesand raucous groans that joined with sounds of hands, raising a whirling storm that turns itselfforever through that air of endless black, like grains of sand swirling when a whirlwind blows. And I, in the midst of all this circling horror, began, "Teacher, what are these sounds I hear? What souls are these so overwhelmed by grief?" And he to me: "This wretched state of beingis the fate of those sad souls who lived a lifebut lived it with no blame and with no praise. They are mixed with that repulsive choir of angelsneither faithful nor unfaithful to their God, who undecided stood but for themselves. Heaven, to keep its beauty, cast them out, but even Hell itself would not receive them, for fear the damned might glory over them." And I. "Master, what torments do they sufferthat force them to lament so bitterly?" He answered: "I will tell you in few words:these wretches have no hope of truly dying, and this blind life they lead is so abjectit makes them envy every other fate. The world will not record their having been there; Heaven's mercy and its justice turn from them. Let's not discuss them; look and pass them by.. . Dante Alighieri

There is no greater sorrow than to recall in misery the time when we were happy. Dante Alighieri

He who sees a need and waits to be asked for help is as unkind as if he had refused it. Dante Alighieri

I, answering in the end, began: 'Alas, how many yearning thoughts, what great desire, have lead them through such sorrow to their fate? Dante Alighieri

This is Nimrod, because of whose vile plan the world no longer speaks a single tongue. Dante Alighieri

For certain he hath seen all perfectness For certain he hath seen all perfectness. Who among other ladies hath seen mine: They that go with her humbly should combine To thank their God for such peculiar grace. So perfect is the beauty of her face That it begets in no wise any sign Of envy, but draws round her a clear line Of love, and blessed faith, and gentleness. Merely the sight of her inakes all things bow: Not she herself alone is holier Than all: but hers, through her, are raised above. From all her acts such lovely graces flow That truly one may never think of her Without a passion of exceeding love. Dante Alighieri

If you, free as you are of every weighthad stayed below, then that would be as strangeas living flame on earth remaining still." And then she turned her gaze up toward the heavens. Dante Alighieri

Fate's arrow, when expected, travels slow. Dante Alighieri

Put off this sloth, ' the master said, 'for shame! Sitting on feather-pillows, lying reclined Beneath the blanket is no way to fame -Fame, without which man's life wastes out of mind, Leaving on earth no more memorial Than foam in water or smoke upon the wind Dante Alighieri

Come on, shake off the covers of this sloth, for sitting softly cushioned, or tucked in bed, is no way to win fame. Dante Alighieri

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. Dante Alighieri

The experience of this sweet life. Dante Alighieri

High justice would in no way be debased if ardent love should cancel instantly the debts these penitents must satisfy. Dante Alighieri

..Because the sacred fire that lights all nature liveliest of all in its own image glows. All these prerogatives the human creature possesses, and if one of them should fail, he must diminish from his noble stature. Sin only can disenfranchise him, and veil his likeness to the Highest Good; whereby the light in him is lessened and grows pale. Ne'er can he win back dignities so high till the void made by guilt be all filled in with just amends paid for by illicit joy. Now, when your nature as a whole did sin in its first root, it lost these great awards, and lost the Eden of its origin; nor might they be recovered afterwards by any means, as if thou search thou'lt see, except by crossing one of these two fords; either must God, of his sole courtesy, remit, or man must pay with all that's his, the debt of sin in its entirety. Within the Eternal Counsel's deep abyss rivet thine eye, and with a heed as good as thou canst give me, do thou follow this. Man from his finite assets never could make satisfaction; ne'er could he abase him so low, obey thereafter all he would, as he'd by disobedience sought to raise him; and for this cause man might not pay his due himself, nor from the debtor's roll erase him. Needs then must God, by his own ways, renew man's proper life, and reinstate him so; his ways I say - by one, or both of two. And since the doer's actions ever show more gracious as the style of them makes plain the goodness of the heart from which they flow, that most high Goodness which is God was fain - even God, whose impress Heaven and earth display - by all His ways to lift you up again; nor, between final night and primal day, was e'er proceeding so majestical and high, nor shall not be, by either way; for God's self-giving, which made possible that man should raise himself, showed more largesse than if by naked power He'd cancelled all; and every other means would have been less than justice, if it had not pleased God's Son to be humiliate in fleshliness. Dante Alighieri

The path to paradise begins in hell. Dante Alighieri

Heaven wheels above you, displaying to you her eternal glories, and still your eyes are on the ground Dante Alighieri

That infinite and indescribable good which is there above races as swiftly to love as a ray of light to a bright body. It gives of itself according to the ardor it finds, so that as charity spreads farther the eternal good increases upon it, and the more souls there are who love, up there, the more there are to love well, and the more love they reflect to each other, as in a mirror. Dante Alighieri

The mind which is created quick to love, is responsive to everything that is pleasing, soon as by pleasure it is awakened into activity. Your apprehensive faculty draws an impression from a real object, and unfolds it within you, so that it makes the mind turn thereto. And if, being turned, it inclines towards it, that inclination is love; that is nature, which through pleasure is bound anew within you. Dante Alighieri

The Love that moves the sun and the other stars. Dante Alighieri

If the present world go astray, the cause is in you, in you it is to be sought. Dante Alighieri

There is no greater sorrowthan thinking back upon a happy timein misery-- Dante Alighieri

All hope abandon, ye who enter here. Dante Alighieri

You did thirst for blood, and with blood I fill you Dante Alighieri

Through me is the way to the city of woe. Through me is the way to sorrow eternal. Through me is the way to the lost below. Justice moved my architect supernal. I was constructed by divine power, supreme wisdom, and love primordial. Before me no created things were. Save those eternal, and eternal I abide. Abandon all hope, you who enter. Dante Alighieri

Through me you go to the grief wracked city; Through me you go to everlasting pain; Through me you go a pass among lost souls. Justice inspired my exalted Creator: I am a creature of the Holiest Power, of Wisdom in the Highest and of Primal Love. Nothing till I was made was made, only eternal beings. And I endure eternally. Surrender as you enter, every hope you have. Dante Alighieri

And he began, "What chance or destinyhas brought you here before your final day? And who is he who leads your pilgrimage?"" Up there in life beneath the quiet stars I lost my way, " I answered, "in a valley, before I'd reached the fullness of my age. I turned my shoulders on it yesterday:this soul appeared as I was falling back, and by the road through Hell he leads me home."" Follow your star and you will never fail to find your glorious port, " he said to me . Dante Alighieri

The weapons of divine justice are blunted by the confession and sorrow of the offender. Dante Alighieri

I am the way into the city of woe, I am the way into eternal pain, I am the way to go among the lost. Justice caused my high architect to move, Divine omnipotence created me, The highest wisdom, and the primal love. Before me there were no created things But those that last forever–as do I.Abandon all hope you who enter here. Dante Alighieri

And all the while one spirit uttered this, The other one did weep so, that, for pity, I swooned away as if I had been dying, And fell, even as a dead body falls. Dante Alighieri

It is necessity and not pleasure that compels us. [Italian: Necessita c'induce, e non diletto.] Dante Alighieri

There is no greater sorrow Than to recall a happy time When miserable. Dante Alighieri

Noi siam venuti al loco ov'i' t'ho dettoche tu vedrai le genti dolorosec'hanno perduto il ben de l'intelletto. We to the place have come, where I have told thee Thou shalt behold the people dolorous Who have foregone the good of intellect. Dante Alighieri

As once I loved you in my mortal flesh, without it now I love you still. Dante Alighieri

God's greatest gift to man In all the bounty He was moved to make Throughout creation-the one gift the most Close to his goodness and the one He calls Most precious-is free will. Dante Alighieri

He who knows most grieves most for wasted time. Dante Alighieri

Haste denies all acts their dignity. Dante Alighieri

The fair request ought to be followed by the deed in silence. Dante Alighieri

Art as far as it is able follows nature as a pupil imitates his master thus your art must be as it were God's grandchild. Dante Alighieri

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality. Dante Alighieri

Ail hope abandon ye who enter here. Dante Alighieri

I am searching for that which every man seeks-peace and rest. Dante Alighieri

Abandon hope all ye who enter here. Dante Alighieri

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in time of great moral crisis maintain their neutrality. Dante Alighieri

There is no greater sorrow than to recall a happy time in the midst of wretchedness. Dante Alighieri

From a little spark may burst a mighty flame. Dante Alighieri

Come follow me and leave the world to its babblings. Dante Alighieri

All hope abandon, ye who enter here! Dante Alighieri

Nature is the art of God. Dante Alighieri

There is no greater sorrow than to recall happiness in times of misery. Dante Alighieri

Be as a tower firmly set Shakes not its top for any blast that blows. Dante Alighieri

Consider your origins: you were not made to live as brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge. Dante Alighieri

Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from The Eternal. Dante Alighieri

The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis. Dante Alighieri

The secret of getting things done is to act! Dante Alighieri

The sad souls of those who lived without blame and without praise. Dante Alighieri

Pride, envy, avarice - these are the sparks have set on fire the hearts of all men. Dante Alighieri

The customs and fashions of men change like leaves on the bough, some of which go and others come. Dante Alighieri