Skip to content

Ah, cruel Love! What is the reason why
You seldom make our longings correspond?
How is it, traitor, you rejoice to spy
Two hearts discordant, one repelled, one fond?

— Ludovico Ariosto Orlando Furioso (1532)

Ingiustissimo Amor, perché sì raro
Corrispondenti fai nostri desiri?
Onde, perfido, avvien che t'è sì caro
Il discorde voler ch’in duo cor miri?

Original text (Italian)

Another quote →

More quotes by Ludovico Ariosto

What a man sees, Love can make invisible—and what is invisible, that can Love make him see.

Orlando Furioso (1532)

Driven raving mad by love—and he a man who had been always esteemed for his great prudence.

Orlando Furioso (1532)

For rarely man escapes his destiny.

Orlando Furioso (1532)

Reflect, ye gentle dames, that much they know,
Who gain experience from another's woe.

Orlando Furioso (1532)

Who seems most hideous when adorned the most.

Orlando Furioso (1532)

All Ludovico Ariosto quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Ludovico Ariosto (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.