O you, who in some pretty boat, Eager to listen, have been following Behind my ship, that singing sails along Turn back to look again upon your own shores; Tempt not the deep, lest unawares, In losing me, you yourselves might be lost. The sea I sail has never yet been passed; Minerva breathes, and pilots me Apollo, And Muses nine point out to me the Bears. You other few who have neck uplifted Betimes to the bread of angels upon Which one lives and does not grow sated, Well may you launch your vessel Upon the deep sea.
Dante AlighieriOne ought to be afraid of nothing other then things possessed of power to do us harm, but things innoucuous need not be feared.
Dante AlighieriThou shall know by experience how salt the savor is of others' bread, and how sad a path it is to climb and descend another's stairs.
Dante AlighieriCompassion is not a passion; rather a noble disposition of the soul, made ready to receive love, mercy, and other charitable passions.
Dante AlighieriHere we find the moat of thieves. And just as a lizard, with a quick, slick slither, Flicks across the highway from hedge to hedge, Fleeter than a flash, in the battering dog-day weather, A fiery little monster, livid, in a rage, Black as any peppercorn, came and made a dart At the guts of the others, and leaping to engage One of the pair, it pierced him at the part Through which we first draw food; then loosed its grip And fell before him, outstretched and apart.
Dante Alighieri