Dante Alighieri Quotes

A mighty flame follows a tiny spark.

Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself within a forest dark, for the straightforward pathway had been lost.

From there we came outside and saw the stars

The day that man allows true love to appear, those things which are well made will fall into cofusion and will overturn everything we believe to be right and true.

"And I — my head oppressed by horror — said:
"Master, what is it that I hear? Who are
those people so defeated by their pain?"
And he to me: "This miserable way
is taken by the sorry souls of those
who lived without disgrace and without praise.
They now commingle with the coward angels,
the company of those who were not rebels
nor faithful to their God, but stood apart.
The heavens, that their beauty not be lessened,
have cast them out, nor will deep Hell receive them — even the wicked cannot glory in them.

Because your question searches for deep meaning,
I shall explain in simple words

I did not die, and yet I lost life’s breath

Lost are we, and are only so far punished,
That without hope we live on in desire.

But the stars that marked our starting fall away.
We must go deeper into greater pain,
for it is not permitted that we stay.

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

In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost. Ah, how hard a thing it is to tell what a wild, and rough, and stubborn wood this was, which in my thought renews the fear!

Hope not ever to see Heaven. I have come to lead you to the
other shore; into eternal darkness; into fire and into ice.

He woke her then, and trembling and obedient, she ate that burning heart out of his hand. Weeping, I saw him then depart from me. Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for her? Find nourishment in the very sight of her? I think so. But would she see through the bars of his plight, and ache for him?

No sadness is greater than in misery to rehearse memories of joy.

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.