I saw within Its depth how It conceives_x000D_ _x000D_ All things in a single volume bound by Love_x000D_ _x000D_ of which the universe is the scattered leaves.
Dante AlighieriRead
Mankind is at its best when it is most free. This will be clear if we grasp the principle of liberty. We must recall that the basic principle is freedom of choice, which saying many have on their lips but few in their minds.
Interpretation
True human flourishing occurs when individuals have the freedom to make their own choices.
This quote emphasizes the importance of liberty and personal choice in achieving the best of humanity. Dante Alighieri points out that while people often speak of freedom, few genuinely understand its significance, suggesting that true freedom allows for personal growth, responsibility, and the exercise of one’s will, leading to a better society.
In practice
In a speech about democracy, one might quote Dante to highlight the importance of individual freedom.
I saw within Its depth how It conceives_x000D_ _x000D_ All things in a single volume bound by Love_x000D_ _x000D_ of which the universe is the scattered leaves.
Before me things created were none, save things Eternal, and eternal I endure. All hope abandon, ye who enter here.
The customs and fashions of men change like leaves on the bough, some of which go and others come.
Heaven wheels above you, displaying to you her eternal glories, and still your eyes are on the ground.
Pride, envy, avarice - these are the sparks have set on fire the hearts of all men.
Thus you may understand that love alone is the true seed of every merit in you, and of all acts for which you must atone.
Men are rewarded or punished not for what they do but for how their acts are defined. That is why men are more interested in better justifying themselves than in better behaving themselves.
These unwritten amenities have been in part responsible for giving our people the feeling of independence and self-confidence, the feeling of creativity. These amenities have dignified the right of dissent and have honored the right to be nonconformists and the right to defy submissiveness. They have encouraged lives of high spirits rather than hushed, suffocating silence.
You'll see certain Pythagorean whose belief in communism of property goes to such lengths that they pick up anything lying about unguarded, and make off with it without a qualm of conscience as if it had come to them by law.
War used to be something you could stand on the nearby hill and watch. Now we have total war; everybody's in it. We have total economics as well. Everything affects everybody. The Malaysian currency shakes, and people around the world are seriously affected.
The truth was much more beautiful.
Cynicism is the easiest of all reactions, right? But it's also so disappointing and self-defeating.
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