“You shall find out how salt is the taste of another man’s bread, and how hard is the way up and down another man’s stairs.”
- c. 1265 – September 14, 1321
- Italian
- Poet, Writer, Philosopher, Author of The Divine Comedy
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Quote
“You shall find out how salt is the taste of another man’s bread, and how hard is the way up and down another man’s stairs.”
Explanation
This quote comes from Dante Alighieri’s Paradiso, Canto XVII, where his ancestor Cacciaguida foretells Dante’s future exile from Florence. In the original Italian: “Tu proverai sì come sa di sale / lo pane altrui, e come è duro calle / lo scendere e ’l salir per l’altrui scale.” It is one of the most personal and poignant passages in The Divine Comedy, expressing the emotional and physical hardship of living under the hospitality of others.
Dante, who was indeed exiled from Florence in 1302, reflects through prophecy on the bitterness of being dependent on foreign patrons, away from his home, family, and political community. The “saltiness” of the bread symbolizes the humiliation and discomfort of not being self-sufficient, while the wearisome “up and down” of another’s stairs evokes the burden of servitude, instability, and lost dignity. This moment shows Dante’s deep awareness of how exile erodes the soul, not only through suffering but also through dependence.
In today’s world, this quote resonates with the experience of displacement, immigration, or forced separation—those who must rely on others for shelter, sustenance, and survival. It speaks to the quiet sorrow of pride sacrificed, and the loss of belonging and autonomy. Dante’s words are both an expression of personal grief and a universal acknowledgment of the cost of exile and dependence, giving voice to countless others who find themselves far from home.
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