There sighs, lamentations and loud wailings resounded through the starless air, so that at first it made me weep; strange tongues, horrible language, words of pain, tones of anger, voices loud and hoarse, and with these the sound of hands, made a tumult which is whirling through that air forever dark, and sand eddies in a whirlwind.
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In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.
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The sad souls of those who lived without blame and without praise.
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Avarice, envy, pride,Three fatal sparks, have set the hearts of allOn Fire.
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O human race born to fly upward, wherefore at a little wind dost thou fall.
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There is no greater sorrow Than to be mindful of the happy time In misery.
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In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself astray in a dark wood where the straight road had been lost sight of.
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What I want to fix your attention on is the vast overall movement towards the discrediting, and finally the elimination, of every kind of human excellence -- moral, cultural, social or intellectual. And is it not pretty to notice how 'democracy' (in the incantatory sense) is now doing for us the work that was once done by the most ancient dictatorships, and by the same methods The basic proposal of the new education is to be that dunces and idlers must not be made to feel inferior to intelligent and industrious pupils. That would be 'undemocratic.' Children who are fit to proceed may be artificially kept back, because the others would get a trauma by being left behind. The bright pupil thus remains democratically fettered to his own age group throughout his school career, and a boy who would be capable of tackling Aeschylus or Dante sits listening to his coeval's attempts to spell out A CAT SAT ON A MAT. We may reasonably hope for the virtual abolition of education when 'I'm as good as you' has fully had its way. All incentives to learn and all penalties for not learning will vanish. The few who might want to learn will be prevented who are they to overtop their fellows And anyway, the teachers -- or should I say nurses -- will be far too busy reassuring the dunces and patting them on the back to waste any time on real teaching. We shall no longer have to plan and toil to spread imperturbable conceit and incurable ignorance among men.
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Oh, fuck you! Fuck you, pal! There you go again trying to pass the buck. I'm the source of all your misery. Who closed the store to play hockey? Who closed the store to go to a wake? Who tried to win back his ex girlfriend without even discussing how he felt about it with his present girlfriend? 'I'm not even supposed to be here today.' You sound like an asshole! Jesus, nobody twisted your arm to be here today. You're here under your own volition. You like to think that the weight of the world rests on Dante's shoulders. Like this place would fall apart if Dante wasn't here. Christ, you overcompensate for what's basically a monkey's job. You push fucking buttons. Anybody can just waltz in here and do our jobs. You're so obsessed with making it seem so much more epic and important than it really is. You work at a convenience store, Dante! And badly, I might add! I work at a shitty video store, badly as well. That guy Jay's got it right, man. He's got no delusions about what he does. Us, we like to think that we're so much more advanced than the people that come in here everyday to buy paper, or, god forbid, cigarettes. Well, if we're so fucking advanced, what are we doing working here?
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The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis
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If the present world go astray, the cause is in you, in you it is to be sought.
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A great flame follows a little spark.
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Here is the difference between Dante, Milton, and me. They wrote about hell and never saw the place. I wrote about Chicago after looking the town over for years and years.
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The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.
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The experience of this sweet life. L'esperienza de questa dolce vita.
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Consider your origin; you were not born to live like brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge.
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He listens well who takes notes.
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For he who sees a need but waits to be asked is already set on cruel refusal.
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A fair request should be followed by the deed in silence.
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The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.
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All hope abandon, ye who enter here
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Avarice, envy, pride, Three fatal sparks, have set the hearts of all On Fire.
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He listens well who takes notes
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There is no greater sorrow
Than to be mindful of the happy time
In misery.
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For what is liberty but the unhampered translation of will into act?
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Avarice, envy, pride,
Three fatal sparks, have set the hearts of all
On Fire.
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Through me you pass into the city of woe:
Through me you pass into eternal pain:
Through me among the people lost for aye.
Justice the founder of my fabric moved:
To rear me was the task of power divine,
Supremest wisdom, and primeval love.
Before me things create were none, save things
Eternal, and eternal I shall endure.
All hope abandon, ye who enter here.
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The customs and fashions of men change like leaves on the bough, some of which go and others come
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The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.
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Consider your origin you were not born to live like brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge.
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