How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Canto.Line). We used Allen Mandelbaum's translation.
Quote #1
[Piccarda]: "Brother, the power of love appeases our
will so – we only long for what we have;
we do not thirst for greater blessedness.
Should we desire a higher sphere than ours,
then our desires would be discordant with
the will of Him who has assigned us here,
but you'll see no such discord in these spheres;
to live in love is – here – necessity,
if you think on love's nature carefully.
The essence of this blessed life consists
in keeping to the boundaries of God's will,
through which our wills become one single will;
so that, as we are ranged from step to step
throughout this kingdom, all this kingdom wills
that which will please the King whose will is rule." (Par. III, 70-84)
That Piccarda has conformed her individual will to God's will can be put in legal terminology. God's will can be interpreted as law. Citizens like Piccarda – in agreeing to be governed – enter into a social contract with the state (or God). This social contract declares laws to which the citizens agree. Thus, to be a good citizen, one must adhere to the laws. If one does not adhere to the laws, there are consequences which are enumerated in the law, and which can legally be enforced. In Christianity, the same principle applies: to be a good "citizen" (one who makes it to Heaven), one must learn to follow God's law (or will). Sinners are those who act against His will, and are punished by spending eternity in Hell.
Quote #2
[Piccarda]: "This other radiance hat shows itself
to you at my right hand, a brightness kindled
by all the light that fills our heaven – she
has understood what I have said: she was
a sister, and from her head, too, by force,
the shadow of the sacred veil was taken.
But though she had been turned back to the world
against her will, against all honest practice,
the veil upon her heart was never loosed.
This is the splendor of the great Costanza,
who from the Swabians' second gust engendered
the one who was their third and final power." (Par. III, 109-120)
As political individuals, it is important that citizens be trusted to keep their word. Personal integrity is the basis of a contract between a state and its people. By violating her vows, Empress Constance proves herself somewhat untrustworthy. However, this passage also shows the contradictory pressures society places on its individuals, especially its rulers. Though Constance wants only to live as a nun, her royal blood makes her a tempting candidate for marriage so that some greedy prince can gain access to her lands and wealth.
Quote #3
[Justinian]: "See what great virtue made that Eagle worthy
of reverence, beginning from that hour
when Pallas died that it might gain a kingdom.
You know that for three hundred years and more
it lived in Alba, until, at the end,
three still fought three, contending for that standard.
You know how, under seven kings, it conquered
its neighbors – in the era reaching from
wronged Sabine women to Lucrece's grief –
and what it did when carried by courageous
Romans, who hurried to encounter Brennus,
Pyrrhus, and other principates and cities.
Through this, Torquatus, Quinctius (who is named
for his disheveled hair), the Decii,
and Fabii gained the fame I gladly honor.
That standard brought the pride of Arabs low
when they had followed Hannibal across
those Alpine rocks from which, Po, you descend." (Par. VI, 34-51)
Here is an example of God bestowing glory upon a nation whose people have converted to Christianity. Justinian tells of Rome's great conquests, which were caused by the "great virtue" (Christianity) of Rome's rulers and made "the Eagle [of Rome] worthy of reverence."
Quote #4
[Justinian]: "Now you can judge those I condemned above,
and judge how such men have offended, have
become the origin of all your evils.
For some oppose the universal emblem
with yellow lilies; others claim that emblem
for party: it is hard to see who is worse.
Let Ghibellines pursue their undertakings
beneath another sign, for those who sever
this sign and justice are bad followers." (Par. VI, 97-105)
Political glory can hold the seeds of its own destruction. Here, Justinian points out how the dueling factions of the Guelphs and Ghibellines came into existence. Perhaps even worse, the Ghibellines tried to claim the Roman empire's "universal emblem [of the Eagle]" as their own, when their interests really ran opposite to those of the Empire's.
Quote #5
[Justinian]: "This little planet is adorned with spirits,
whose acts were righteous, but who acted for
the honor and the fame that they would gain;
and when desires tend toward earthly ends,
then, so deflected, rays of the true love
mount toward the life above with lesser force." (Par. VI, 112-118)
One of the faults of society is that it puts a premium on glory and fame. For those with such petty motivations as glory of fame, the best they can hope for is to end up in the Second heaven of Mercury. They cannot ascend any higher.
Quote #6
He [Charles Martel] added: "Tell me, would a man on earth
be worse if he were not a citizen?"
"Yes," I replied, "and here I need no proof."
"Can there be citizens if men below
are not diverse, with diverse duties? No,
if what your master writes is accurate." (Par. VIII, 115-120)
Charles Martel delineates one of the founding tenets of Paradiso here. First of all, society is good for man, who is by nature, a social animal. Naturally, large groups of people tend to diversify, having special interests and skills in a variety of things. This holds true in heaven just as on earth; each of the planets caters to a specific type of skill (studying theology, fighting for God, and ruling justly – to name just a few). Even more importantly, the blessed souls’ identity is based on a concept of sameness-but-difference. They are all similar in that they’ve learned to align their wills with God, yet they don’t all become one mindless mass of humanity; instead, God allows them to maintain their individualism, as citizens of heaven; they therefore maintain their own unique identities.
Quote #7
[Cacciaguida]: "Florence, within her ancient ring of walls –
that ring from which she still draws tierce and nones –
sober and chaste, lived in tranquility.
No necklace and no coronal were there,
and no embroidered gowns; there was no girdle
that caught the eye more than the one who wore it.
No daughter's birth brought fear unto her father,
for age and dowry then did not imbalance –
to this side and to that – the proper measure.
There were no families that bore no children;
and Sardanapalus was still a stranger –
not come as yet to teach in the bedchamber.
Not yet had your Uccellatoio's rise
outdone the rise of Monte Mario,
which, too will be outdone in its decline.
I saw Bellincione Berti girt
with leather and with bone, and saw his wife
come from her mirror with her face unpainted.
I saw dei Nerli and del Vecchio
content to wear their suits of unlined skins,
and saw their wives at spindle and at spool.
O happy wives! Each one was sure of her
own burial place, and none – for France's sake –
as yet was left deserted in her bed. (Par. XV, 97-120)
Ancient Florence is described by Cacciaguida as the epitome of a good society, whose political priorities are pure. Here is a society whose life centers on Christianity, as evidenced by the "walls" which surround a church clock tower marking the canonical hours of "tierce and nones." The women of Florence are not concerned with fancy clothes or makeup, but with raising children. And families are concerned only with raising their children prudently and arranging proper marriages for their virtuous daughters.[Cacciaguida]:
Quote #8
"There were the families, and others with them:
the Florence that I saw – in such repose
that there was nothing to have caused her sorrow.
These were the families: with them I saw
her people so acclaimed and just, that on
her staff the lily never was reversed,
nor was it made bloodred by factious hatred." (Par. XVI, 148-154)
One of the major motifs of Paradiso is that the rituals of the past are often thought superior to those of the present. The Florentine families are no exception; in ancient Florence, they were "acclaimed and just," but in the present-day Florence, they are corrupt, (i.e. dividing into political factions, inverting the noble standard of Florence (the lily), and staining their symbolic lily red with the blood of their brothers).
Quote #9
Therefore I pray the Mind in which begin
your motion and your force, to watch that place
which has produced the smoke that dims your rays,
that once again His anger fall upon
those who would buy and sell within that temple
whose walls were built by miracles and martyrs…
Men once were used to waging war with swords;
now war means seizing here and there the bread
the tender Father would deny to none.
But you who only write to then erase,
remember this: Peter and Paul, who died
to save the vines you spoil, are still alive. (Par. XVIII, 118-132)
The Church has brought a whole new level to political corruption: waging war on the virtuous and denying people the "bread / the tender Father would deny to none." By "bread" Dante means the Sacraments, the first steps towards repentance for one's sins.
Quote #10
[St. Benedict]: "But even heavy usury does not
offend the will of God as grievously
as the appropriation of that fruit
which makes the hearts of monks go mad with greed;
for all within the keeping of the Church
belongs to those who ask it in God's name,
and not to relatives or concubines.
The flesh of mortals yields so easily –
on earth a good beginning does not run
from when the oak is born until the acorn." (Par. XXII, 78-87)
One of the major political sins of the clerics is their yielding to bribery and selling of indulgences (or absolution) for money.
Quote #11
[Adam to Dante] …"My son,
the cause of my long exile did not lie
within the act of tasting of the tree,
but solely in my trespass of the boundary." (Par. XXVI, 115-117)
For God's law, as for all laws, one's crime does not lie necessarily in doing some deed (in Adam's case tasting the fruit), but in knowingly and willfully crossing the boundary agreed upon by both parties as law. Such a step is a violation of the contract God has made with man.