“Do not be afraid; our fate
Cannot be taken from us; it is a gift.”
― Dante Alighieri, Inferno
Where will you find the most profound words? Dante’s Inferno is the first which comes to mind. It’s not just the words which are profound, it’s knowing that we are reading them in English, and that the original meanings are even deeper, which makes the text that much more profound and more mysterious.
Reading poetry in translation is like trying to know a tree by seeing its shadow. You may never fully know the tree this way, but you will know the shadow of a tree, and the idea that the tree itself is majestic and mysterious, something too sacred to visit–something which can only be sensed, and in that way, more magical than the tree.
A Life of Wonder 
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