“Do you not know that we are worms and born
To form the angelic butterfly that soars,
Without defenses, to confront His judgment?”

—  Dante Alighieri, book Purgatorio

Canto X, lines 121–129 (tr. Mandelbaum).
The Divine Comedy (c. 1308–1321), Purgatorio
Context: O Christians, arrogant, exhausted, wretched,
Whose intellects are sick and cannot see,
Who place your confidence in backward steps,
Do you not know that we are worms and born
To form the angelic butterfly that soars,
Without defenses, to confront His judgment?
Why does your mind presume to flight when you
Are still like the imperfect grub, the worm
Before it has attained its final form?

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Dante Alighieri105
Italian poet 1265–1321

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