“The higher up on Fortune's wheel you see
A wretch ascend, the sooner he will fall,
And where his head is now, his feet will be.”

— Ludovico Ariosto, book Orlando Furioso

Quanto più su l'instabil ruota vedi
Di Fortuna ire in alto il miser uomo,
Tanto più tosto hai da vedergli i piedi
Ove ora ha il capo, e far cadendo il tomo.
Canto XLV, stanza 1 (tr. B. Reynolds)
Orlando Furioso (1532)

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Ludovico Ariosto97

Italian poet 1474–1533

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