Q0485
“the Love that moves the sun and the other stars” — Dante Alighieri (Paradiso XXXIII.145)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: Paradiso XXXIII.145. Theme: love.
English
the Love that moves the sun and the other stars
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to Paradiso XXXIII.145 and files it under Scholasticism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) was the Florentine poet-philosopher of the Divine Comedy, exiled in the Guelf–Ghibelline conflicts. He wrote vernacular epic that synthesizes Aristotelian ethics, scholastic theology, and civic passion.
Interpretation
Dante closes the Paradiso with this, and the grammar matters: love is the subject and the celestial machinery is what it moves. The claim is that the order of the cosmos is not a mechanism but an attraction, so the whole structure holds because of what draws it rather than what pushes it. Arriving here at the end of the poem, the sentence is the resolution of the journey rather than a proposition in it.
Why it matters
It offers a different image of order — one that coheres by being drawn rather than by being driven, which changes what holds a thing together.
Concepts in this quote
- Love
- Love in philosophy ranges from friendship and desire to care, justice, and the transformation of the self.
- Nature
- Philosophy quotes about nature ask what the cosmos is, how humans belong in it, and whether “natural” can guide ethics or politics.
- Order
- Order names cosmos, ritual, law, and the patterned stability that makes shared life possible—or oppressive.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Dante Alighieri. (n.d.). the Love that moves the sun and the other stars In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0485
MLA: Dante Alighieri. “the Love that moves the sun and the….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0485.
Chicago: Dante Alighieri. “the Love that moves the sun and the….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0485.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “the Love that moves the sun and the…”?
The passage is attributed to Dante Alighieri, Paradiso XXXIII.145. The archive attributes this English wording to Paradiso XXXIII.145 and files it under Scholasticism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Dante Alighieri mean by love?
Greek distinctions among eros, philia, and agape, Confucian relational ethics, and modern debates about romantic love keep the theme philosophically precise rather than merely sentimental. This passage enters that discussion through love, nature, order.