“All hope abandon, ye who enter here!”
- c. 1265 – September 14, 1321
- Italian
- Poet, Writer, Philosopher, Author of The Divine Comedy
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Quote
“All hope abandon, ye who enter here!”
Explanation
This is one of the most famous lines from Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, Canto III, and appears as an inscription above the gates of Hell. In the original Italian: “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate.” It serves as a grim warning to all souls passing into Hell: that once they cross this threshold, no redemption or return is possible. It marks the absolute finality of divine judgment for the damned.
The line is part of a larger passage engraved on the gate, which describes Hell as created by divine justice, primal love, and highest intellect—suggesting that Hell itself is not arbitrary cruelty but a rational consequence of unrepented sin. By commanding souls to abandon hope, the inscription emphasizes the irreversibility of their condition. This stark declaration contrasts sharply with Purgatorio and Paradiso, where movement and transformation are possible; here, eternity means stasis in punishment.
In modern usage, the quote is often invoked—sometimes ironically—to signify hopeless or dreadful situations: the entrance to a bureaucratic nightmare, a harsh prison, or a corrupt institution. But in its original context, it is a theological and moral statement, warning that choices in life carry eternal consequences. Dante’s Hell reflects his belief that free will matters, and that those who willfully turn from virtue may face a fate where hope is truly lost.
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