Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god featured in the poem, Hávamál)

“He should get up early, the man who has few workers,
and set about his work with thought;
much gets held up for the man sleeping in the morning;
wealth is half-won by activity.”

• This quote comes from stanza 59 of Hávamál (Sayings of the High One), an old poem which was preserved in the 13th-century Poetic Edda which was produced anonymously in Iceland. The translation is by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford University Press, 2014).

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Dante Alighieri

Dante Alighieri (c. 1265-1321)

"Philosophy, to an attentive ear,
Clearly points out, not in one part alone,
How imitative Nature takes her course
From the celestial mind, and from its art."

• Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Canto XI), translated by Henry F. Cary in the Harvard Classics series, edited by Charles W. Eliot, and published by P. F. Collier & Son (1909, 1937).

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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god featured in the poem, Hávamál)

"Quite enough baseless blather comes
from the man never silent;
a quick tongue, unless it's held in check,
often talks itself into trouble."

• This quote comes from stanza 29 of Hávamál (Sayings of the High One), an old poem which was preserved in the 13th-century Poetic Edda which was produced anonymously in Iceland. The translation is by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford University Press, 2014).

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Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio (c. 1313-1375)

"Just as the end of mirth is heaviness, so sorrows are dispersed by the advent of joy."

• The Decameron (First Day, Introduction) by Giovanni Boccaccio, translated by G. H. McWilliam. New York: Penguin Classics, 2003. This line was seemingly inspired by Proverbs 14:13.

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Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio (c. 1313-1375)

"Come, Love, the cause of all my joy,
Of all my hope and happiness,
Come let us sing together"

• From a poem included by Giovanni Boccaccio in the conclusion of the Second Day in his Decameron, translated by G. H. McWilliam. New York: Penguin Classics, 2003.

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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god featured in the poem, Hávamál)

"Wits are needful for someone who wanders widely,
anything will pass at home;
he becomes a laughing-stock, the man who knows nothing
and sits among the wise."

• This quote comes from stanza 5 of Hávamál (Sayings of the High One), an old poem which was preserved in the 13th-century Poetic Edda which was produced anonymously in Iceland. The translation is by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford University Press, 2014).

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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god)

"Never let a wicked man know
of any misfortune you suffer;
for from a wicked man you will never get
a good thought in return."

• This quote comes from stanza 117 of Hávamál (Sayings of the High One), an old poem which was preserved in the 13th-century Poetic Edda which was produced anonymously in Iceland. The translation is by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford University Press, 2014).

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Dante Alighieri

Dante Alighieri (c. 1265-1321)

"Avarice, envy, pride,
 Three fatal sparks, have set the hearts of all
 On fire."

• Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Canto VI), translated by Henry F. Cary in the Harvard Classics series, edited by Charles W. Eliot, and published by P. F. Collier & Son (1909, 1937).

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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god)

"Never be made glad by wickedness
but please yourself with good things."

• This quote comes from stanza 128 of Hávamál (Sayings of the High One), an old poem which was preserved in the 13th-century Poetic Edda which was produced anonymously in Iceland. The translation is by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford University Press, 2014).

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Al-Ghazālī

Al-Ghazālī (c. 1058-1111)

"The keys of hearts are in God's hand; He opens hearts when He wills, as He wills, and how He wills."

• From The Niche of Lights by Al Ghazālī, translated by David Buchman. Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1998.

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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god)

"No man is so good that he has no blemish,
nor so bad that he is good for nothing."

• This quote comes from stanza 133 of Hávamál (Sayings of the High One), an old poem which was preserved in the 13th-century Poetic Edda which was produced anonymously in Iceland. The translation is by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford University Press, 2014).

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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god)

"Seldom does the loafing wolf snatch the ham,
nor a sleeping man victory."

• This quote comes from stanza 58 of Hávamál (Sayings of the High One), an old poem which was preserved in the 13th-century Poetic Edda which was produced anonymously in Iceland. The translation is by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford University Press, 2014).

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Dante Alighieri

Dante Alighieri (c. 1265-1321)

"The soul is by vile fear assail'd, which oft
So overcasts a man, that he recoils
From noblest resolution, like a beast
At some false semblance in the twilight gloom"

• Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Canto II), translated by Henry F. Cary in the Harvard Classics series, edited by Charles W. Eliot, and published by P. F. Collier & Son (1909, 1937).

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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god)

"The stupid man stays awake all night
and worries about everything;
he's tired out when the morning comes
and all's just as bad as it was."

• This quote comes from stanza 23 of Hávamál (Sayings of the High One), an old poem which was preserved in the 13th-century Poetic Edda which was produced anonymously in Iceland. The translation is by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford University Press, 2014).

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Murasaki Shikibu

Murasaki Shikibu (c. 11th century)

"How sad and cruel it is, the way we cling to what lasts like evening dew!"

• From Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji (chapter 39), translated by Royall Tyler (Penguin Classics, 2003).

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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (from Hávamál)

"The cowardly man thinks he'll live for ever,
if he keeps away from fighting;
but old age won't grant him a truce
even if spears spare him."

• This quote comes from stanza 16 of Hávamál (Sayings of the High One), an old poem which was preserved in the 13th-century Poetic Edda which was produced anonymously in Iceland. The translation is by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford University Press, 2014).

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Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio (c. 1313-1375)

"Do as you would be done by, that's my motto."

• The Decameron (Second Day, Ninth Story) by Giovanni Boccaccio, translated by G. H. McWilliam. New York: Penguin Classics, 2003.

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Christine de Pizan

Christine de Pizan (c. 1364-1430)

"Anyone who wanted could cite plentiful examples of exceptional women in the world today: it's simply a matter of looking for them."

• The Book of the City of Ladies (Part I, chapter 41) by Christine de Pizan, translated by Rosalind Brown-Grant (Penguin Classics, 1999).

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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god)

"Where you recognize evil, call it evil,
and give no truce to your enemies."

• This quote comes from stanza 127 of Hávamál (Sayings of the High One), an old poem which was preserved in the 13th-century Poetic Edda which was produced anonymously in Iceland. The translation is by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford University Press, 2014).

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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (from Hávamal)

"The mind alone knows what lies near the heart,
he is alone with his spirit;
no sickness is worse for the sensible man
than to find no contentment in anything."

• This quote comes from stanza 95 of Hávamál (Sayings of the High One), an old poem which was preserved in the 13th-century Poetic Edda produced anonymously in Iceland. The translation is by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford University Press, 2014).

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