English & Literature

What are some quotes from Dante's Inferno that express free will?

I need quotes that help explain and express why Dante believed in free will and that people's choices were what put them in ****

Asked by
Last updated by Jill W
1 Answers
Log in to answer

From the text:

“If this were so, then your free will would be destroyed, and there would be no equityi in joy for doing good, in grief for evil. The heavens set your appetites in motion – not all your appetites, but even if that were the case, you have received both light on good and evil, and free will, which though it struggle in its first wars with the heavens, then conquers all, if it has been well nurtured. On greater power and a better nature you, who are free, depend; that Force engenders the mind in you, outside the heavens’ sway.”

“The natural is always without error, but mental love may choose an evil object or err through too much or too little vigor. As long as it’s directed toward the First Good and tends toward secondary goods with measure, it cannot be the cause of evil pleasure; but when it twists toward evil, or attends to good with more or less care than it should, those whom He made have worked against their Maker. From this you see that – of necessity – love is the seed in you of every virtue and of all acts deserving punishment.”