Ludovico Ariosto Quotes

There can be times at sea when a ship is tossed
by two different winds, one of which propels
it forward while the other one is crossed
or retrograde, and among the powerful swells
it turns and yaws as if the crew were lost.

What is not proved should not be used in court,
And even less, if someone it may hurt.

Words one can hear, the face is plain to see:
The inmost heart one seldom can discern.

Molti consigli de le donne sono
Meglio improviso, ch'a pensarvi, usciti.

One man saluted him, another bowed,
Some kissed his hand, still others kissed his foot;
Whoever touched him, joyful was and proud,
For supernatural he seemed, if not
Divine; jostling around him in a crowd,
As close as possible the Bulgars got,
And clamoured for him raucously and cried
To be their king, their captain and their guide.

The brave can death despise,
And dies contented, if with fame he dies.

To win was always deemed a splendid thing,
Whether it be by fortune or by skill.

For such a sovereign joy, a prize so high
No silver and no gold could ever buy.

She who can stand against an armament
Of gold and silver and still pure remain,
Would find a thousand swords' attack less dire
A peril, or survive in raging fire.

The stronger is the enemy, the more
Easily is the vanquished side excused.

Orlando Furioso: A New Verse Translation, trans. David R. Slavitt (Harvard University Press, 2010),

Che chi si truova in degno laccio preso,
Se ben di sé vede sua donna schiva,
Se in tutto aversa al suo desire acceso;
Se bene Amor d'ogni mercede il priva,
Poscia che 'l tempo e la fatica ha speso;
Pur ch'altamente abbia locato il core,
Pianger non de', se ben languisce e muore.

The higher up on Fortune's wheel you see
A wretch ascend, the sooner he will fall,
And where his head is now, his feet will be.

Orlando Furioso: Part Two, trans. Barbara Reynolds (Penguin UK, 1991),

Six days I rode, from morn to setting sun,
By horrid cliff, by bottom dark and drear;
And giddy precipice, where path was none.