Dante Alighieri -- La Vita Nuova [Vita Nova; New Life], ch. 14 (c. 1294, pub. 1576) [tr. Reynolds (1969)]

Dave — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 21:28:37 +0000

I had set foot in that part of life beyond which one cannot go with any hope of returning.

[Io tenni li piedi in quella parte de la vita di là da la quale non si puote ire più per intendimento di ritornare.]

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Italian poet
La Vita Nuova [Vita Nova; New Life], ch. 14 (c. 1294, pub. 1576) [tr. Reynolds (1969)]
(Source)

Said to his friend after seeing Beatrice at a wedding feast (perhaps her own to Simone de’ Bardi), at which point his passion for her has have been set.

(Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:

Of a surety I have now set my feet on that point of life, beyond the which he must not pass who would return.
[tr. Rossetti (c. 1847; 1899 ed.)]

I have set my foot in that part of life, to pass beyond which with purpose to return is impossible.
[tr. Martin (1862)]

I have held my feet on that part of life beyond which no man can go with intent to return.
[tr. Norton (1867)]

I have placed my feet on those boundaries of life beyond which no one can go further and hope to return.
[tr. Musa (1971)]

I have just set foot on that boundary of life beyond which no one can go, hoping to return.
[tr. Hollander (1997)]

I have set foot in that region of life where it is not possible to go with any more intention of returning.
[tr. Kline (2002)]

My feet were at the edge of life beyond which one cannot pass with an expectation of returning.
[tr. Appelbaum (2006)]

I have set my feet in that place in life beyond which one cannot go with the intention of returning.
[tr. Frisardi (2012), ch. 7]

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1843-09)

Dave — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 00:29:44 +0000

Never strike a king unless you are sure you shall kill him.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1843-09)
(Source)

In addition to the noted source, see also here. However, according to the reliable Ralph Keyes, the quotation is spurious. Keyes also suggests an inspiration from the 17th Century English proverb, "Whosoever draws his sword against the prince must throw the scabbard away."

A variant, "When you strike at a king you must kill him," is attributed to Emerson by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., in Max Lerner, The Mind and Faith of Justice Holmes (1943).

WIST Quotations

Dante Alighieri -- La Vita Nuova [Vita Nova; New Life], ch. 14 (c. 1294, pub. 1576) [tr. Reynolds (1969)]

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1843-09)