Dante Alighieri

Divine Comedy

Medieval influential 60 sayings

Sayings by Dante Alighieri

My guide and I entered that hidden road to return to the bright world; and without thought of any rest, we climbed up, he first and I second, to the point where I saw, through a round opening, some of the beautiful things that Heaven bears; and thence we came forth to rebehold the stars.

c. 1308-1321 — Inferno, Canto XXXIV, Lines 133-139 (ending of Inferno)
Humorous Unverifiable

O blind greed, and foolish mortals' minds, that spur you on in life with such desire!

c. 1308-1321 — Purgatorio, Canto XX, Lines 10-12
Humorous Unverifiable

The love that moves the sun and the other stars.

c. 1308-1321 — Paradiso, Canto XXXIII, Line 145 (final line of the Divine Comedy)
Humorous Unverifiable

If, then, the present world goes astray, the cause is in you, in you it is to be sought.

c. 1308-1321 — Purgatorio, Canto XVI, Lines 76-78
Humorous Unverifiable

My hopes are not of this world.

c. 1308-1321 — Attributed, summarizing his focus on the afterlife, but not a direct quote.
Humorous Unverifiable

All hope abandon, ye who enter in!

c. 1308-1321 — Inferno, Canto III, Line 9 (variant translation of the inscription over the gates of Hell)
Humorous Unverifiable

Sweet is the memory of past toil.

c. 1308-1321 — Attributed, a common sentiment, but not a direct quote from his major works.
Humorous Unverifiable

The soul that is not saved is lost.

c. 1308-1321 — A theological concept central to the Divine Comedy, but not a single direct quote.
Humorous Unverifiable

That day we read no more.

c. 1308-1321 — Inferno, Canto V, Line 138 (Paolo and Francesca after their kiss)
Humorous Unverifiable

He who climbs highest falls deepest.

c. 1308-1321 — Attributed, a proverb often associated with themes in the Divine Comedy, but not a direct quote.
Humorous Unverifiable

The more divine the thing, the more it is hated by the wicked.

c. 1308-1321 — Attributed, a sentiment that aligns with his theological views, but not a specific quote.
Humorous Unverifiable

And from that time, I say that to love all good is to love God.

c. 1294 — Vita Nuova, Chapter XXVI
Humorous Unverifiable

The human race is at its best when it is most free.

c. 1312-1313 — De Monarchia, Book I, Chapter 12
Humorous Unverifiable

Think not that I am come to bring peace on earth: I came not to bring peace, but a sword.

c. 1308-1321 — Attributed, a misattribution or misremembering of Matthew 10:34, not Dante's own words.
Humorous Unverifiable

Learning without wisdom is a load of books on a donkey's back.

c. 1308-1321 — Attributed, a common proverb often mistakenly attributed to Dante.
Humorous Unverifiable

What is love? It is the morning and the evening star.

c. 1308-1321 — Attributed, a romanticized quote not found in his works.
Humorous Unverifiable

The greatest pleasure a man can have is to be loved.

c. 1308-1321 — Attributed, a common sentiment, not a direct quote from Dante.
Humorous Unverifiable

O souls, who are so sick and heavy-laden, look to the light that never sets!

c. 1308-1321 — Purgatorio, Canto XXVI, Lines 124-126
Humorous Unverifiable

The world is not a place of rest, but of passage.

c. 1308-1321 — Attributed, reflects Christian doctrines, but not a direct quote from his major works.
Humorous Unverifiable

Here I came to understand that such a state as this the torments of the lost were meant to be.

c. 1308-1321 — Inferno, Canto III, Lines 18-20
Humorous Unverifiable