Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio, Canto XXI, as translated by Cary (1814)
“

If thou observe the tokens, which this man Trac’d by the finger of the angel bears, ’Tis plain that in the kingdom of the just He needs must share. But sithence she, whose wheel Spins day and night, for him not yet had drawn That yarn, which, on the fatal distaff pil’d, Clotho apportions to each wight that breathes, His soul, that sister is to mine and thine, Not of herself could mount, for not like ours Her ken.

— Dante Alighieri on Moirai

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "If thou observe the tokens, which this man Trac’d by the finger of the angel bears, ’Tis plain that in the kingdom of the just He needs must share. But sithence she, whose wheel Spins day and night, for him not yet had drawn That yarn, which, on the fatal distaff pil’d, Clotho apportions to each wight that breathes, His soul, that sister is to mine and thine, Not of herself could mount, for not like ours Her ken." in the context of "Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio, Canto XXI, as translated by Cary (1814)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Moirai" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Dante Alighieri

About Dante Alighieri

Dante Alighieri (c. 30 May 1265 – 13 September 1321), most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri, was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His Divine Comedy, originally called Comedìa (modern Italian: Commedia) and later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio, is widely considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.