“I looked, and I beheld the shade of him
Who made through cowardice the great refusal.”

—  Dante Alighieri , book Inferno

Canto III, lines 59–60 (tr. Longfellow).
The decision of Pope Celestine V to abdicate the Papacy and allow Dante's enemy, Pope Boniface VIII, to gain power.
The Divine Comedy (c. 1308–1321), Inferno

Original

Vidi e conobbi l'ombra di colui che fece per viltade il gran rifiuto.

The Divine Comedy (c. 1308–1321), Inferno

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I looked, and I beheld the shade of him Who made through cowardice the great refusal." by Dante Alighieri?
Dante Alighieri photo
Dante Alighieri 105
Italian poet 1265–1321

Related quotes

Robert Hall photo
Sheryll Murray photo

“I am very happy to stand again and look at the area where people stood thousands of years ago. I congratulate those who made this excavation. It is a great work”

Sheryll Murray (1956) British politician

Said on a visit to Göbekli Tepe, an ancient temple in Turkey. UK MPs hailed preservation of historic sites in Turkey https://www.aa.com.tr/en/culture/uk-mps-hailed-preservation-of-historic-sites-in-turkey/1551180 (6 August 2019)
2019

“oh nothin, i was just buying some ear medication for my sick uncle… *LOWERS SHADES TO LOOK YOU DEAD IN THE EYE* who's a Model by the way”

Dril Twitter user

[ Link to tweet https://twitter.com/dril/status/197502223226384387]
Tweets by year, 2012

P. D. Ouspensky photo

“I saw myself reflected in him as in a mirror and in his eyes I seemed to look upon myself.
And I heard a voice saying:
—"Look, this is the Great Magician!”

P. D. Ouspensky (1878–1947) Russian esotericist

Card I : The Magician http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/sot/sot02.htm
The Symbolism of the Tarot (1913)
Context: I Saw the Man.
His figure reached from earth to heaven and was clad in a purple mantle. He stood deep in foliage and flowers and his head, on which was the head-band of an initiate, seemed to disappear mysteriously in infinity.
Before him on a cube-shaped altar were four symbols of magic — the sceptre, the cup, the sword and the pentacle.
His right hand pointed to heaven, his left to earth. Under his mantle he wore a white tunic girded with a serpent swallowing its tail.
His face was luminous and serene, and, when his eyes met mine, I felt that he saw most intimate recesses of my soul. I saw myself reflected in him as in a mirror and in his eyes I seemed to look upon myself.
And I heard a voice saying:
—"Look, this is the Great Magician!

John Barrowman photo

“I've kind of made Jack a hero that I would like to have looked up to as a little boy because as a little boy, I knew I was gay but I didn't know what it was. Didn't know who to talk to about it. … I wanted kids to like him, and I wanted women, men, I wanted everyone to like him. But first I wanted people to hate him. I wanted them to think he was arrogant and pushy and too sure of himself. And I wanted them to follow the arc of the change he went through in the final episodes of Doctor Who.”

John Barrowman (1967) Scottish-American actor, singer, dancer, musical theatre performer, writer and television personality

On Jack Harkness, in "Fall TV Preview: Captain Jack (not that one) talks about the gay barrier" http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Fall-TV-Preview-Captain-Jack-not-that-one-1243787.php in seattlepi (16 July 2007)

Bertolt Brecht photo

“The suffering of this or that person grips me because there is an escape for him. That's great art — nothing is self-evident. I am made to laugh about those who cry, and cry about those who laugh.”

Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) German poet, playwright, theatre director

"Entertainment or Education? (1936)
Context: The theater-goer in conventional dramatic theater says: Yes, I've felt that way, too. That's the way I am. That's life. That's the way it will always be. The suffering of this or that person grips me because there is no escape for him. That's great art — Everything is self-evident. I am made to cry with those who cry, and laugh with those who laugh. But the theater-goer in the epic theater says: I would never have thought that. You can't do that. That's very strange, practically unbelievable. That has to stop. The suffering of this or that person grips me because there is an escape for him. That's great art — nothing is self-evident. I am made to laugh about those who cry, and cry about those who laugh.

Karl Popper photo

“Ignorance is not a simple lack of knowledge but an active aversion to knowledge, the refusal to know, issuing from cowardice, pride or laziness of mind.”

Karl Popper (1902–1994) Austrian-British philosopher of science

Principle attributed to Popper by Ryszard Kapiscinski in New York Times obituary, 1995.
Misattributed
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/01/magazine/lives-well-lived-karl-popper-the-philosopher-as-giantslayer.html

Arthur Rimbaud photo

Related topics