He listens well
Who takes notes.[Bene ascolta chi la nota.]
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Italian poet
The Divine Comedy [Divina Commedia], Book 1 “Inferno,” Canto 15, l. 99ff (15.99) (1309) [tr. James (2013)]
(Source)
Virgil either warning Dante to consider all the predictions / warnings he's receiving from the damned about "future" political troubles, or else praising him for appearing to have remembered them (interpretations vary).
(Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:
He listens well, who what he hears remarks.
[tr. Rogers (1782), l. 96]
"Unhappy is the man," exclaim'd my Guide,
"From whose weak mind the words of wisdom glide."
[tr. Boyd (1802), st. 18]
He listens to good purpose who takes note.
[tr. Cary (1814)]
Well doth he hear, who marks what he hath heard.
[tr. Dayman (1843)]
He listens well who notes it.
[tr. Carlyle (1849)]
He listens well who notes.
[tr. Bannerman (1850)]
He listens well who noteth well.
[tr. Johnston (1867)]
He listeneth well who noteth it.
[tr. Longfellow (1867)]
Well listens he who marks it.
[tr. Butler (1885)]
Who noteth well, he well doth hear.
[tr. Minchin (1885)]
He listens well who notes it.
[tr. Norton (1892)]
He listeneth well that layeth it to heart.
[tr. Sullivan (1893)]
He listens well who notes the matter.
[tr. Griffith (1908)]
He is a good listener who takes note.
[tr. Sinclair (1939)]
He listens well who noteth well the word.
[tr. Binyon (1943)]
Well-heeded is well-heard.
[tr. Sayers (1949)]
Well heeded is well heard.
[tr. Ciardi (1954)]
He who notes it listens well.
[tr. Singleton (1970)]
He listens well who notes well what he hears.
[tr. Musa (1971)]
He who takes note of this has listened well.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1980)]
Those are the words of a good listener!
[tr. Sisson (1981)]
He who has listened well will understand.
[tr. Pinsky (1994)]
He listens well who takes note.
[tr. Durling (1996)]
He listens closely, who notes it.
[tr. Kline (2002)]
"Those listen well," he said, "who take good note."
[tr. Kirkpatrick (2006)]
He listens well who takes in what he hears.
[tr. Hollander/Hollander (2007)]
It's good
To hear such words, for they are truly profound.
[tr. Raffel (2010)]
Quotations about:
noteworthy
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
For nothing stands out so conspicuously, or remains so firmly fixed in the memory, as something in which you have blundered.
[Nihil est enim tam insigne, nec tam ad diuturnitatem memoriae stabile, quam id, in quo aliquid offenderis.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
De Oratore [On the Orator, On Oratory], Book 1, ch. 28 (1.28) / sec. 129 (55 BC) [tr. Sutton/Rackham (1940)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:
For nothing makes so remarkable, so deep an impression upon the memory as a miscarriage.
[tr. Guthrie (1755)]
For nothing makes so remarkable, so deep an impression upon the memory as a defect.
[Source (1808)]
Nothing, indeed, is so much noticed, or makes an impression of such lasting continuance on the memory, as that in which you give any sort of offense.
[tr. Watson (1860)]
For nothing so immediately attracts attention, or clings so tenaciously to the memory, as any defect.
[tr. Calvert (1870)]
For nothing, we know, strikes us so forcibly or makes such an indelible impression on the memory as that which somehow offends our taste.
[tr. Moor (1892)]
Nothing attracts so much attention, or retains such a hold upon men's memories, as the occasion when you have made a mistake.
[ed. Harbottle (1906)]
For nothing is so conspicuous or so indelibly imprinted on the memory as something that annoys you in any way.
[tr. May/Wisse (2001)]
Not a day passes over the earth but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words, and suffer noble sorrows.
Charles Reade (1814-1884) English novelist and dramatist
The Cloister and the Hearth, ch. 1 (1861)
