Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angels'hierarchies? and even if one of thempressed me against his heart: I would be consumedin that overwhelming existence. For beauty is nothingbut the beginning of terror, which we still are just able to endure, and we are so awed because it serenely disdainsto annihilate us. Every angel is terrifying. Rainer Maria Rilke
About This Quote

In this quote from The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri is describing the terror of being a human being. He feels that his own existence is not worth anything, because he is a mere mortal. He compares himself to a speck of dust in the sky, and concludes that being a human being is not better than being a speck of dust.

Source: Duino Elegies

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