• Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy , I Prosa 4, Ridpath’s Tr. :⁠— “But my miseries are complete, when I reflect that the majority of mankind attend less to the merit of things, than to their fortuitous event; and believe that no undertakings are crowned with success, but such as are formed with a prudent foresight. Hence it is, that the unprosperous immediately lose the good opinion of mankind. It would give me pain to relate to you the rumors that are flying among the people, and the variety of discordant and inconsistent opinions entertained concerning me.” ↩
• At the beginning of Inferno XXVI . Dante foreshadows the vengeance of God that is to fall on Florence, and exclaims:⁠— “And if it now were, it were not too soon; Would that it were, seeing it needs must be, For ’twill aggrieve me more the more I age.” For an account of these disasters see note 377 . ↩