Dante - Inferno (Canto XXIV)

"Omai convien che tu cosi ti spoltre,"
disse 'l maestro; "che, seggendo in piuma,
in fama non si vien, ne sotto cotre;
sanza la qual chi sua vita consuma,
cotal vestigio in terra di se lascia,
qual fumo in aere e in acqua la schiuma.
E pero leav su; vinci l'ambascia
con l'animo che vince ogne battaglia,
se col suo grave corpo non s'accasia



"You must shake off your sluggishness," the Teacher said,
"for no one comes to fame who sits in soft
pillows of down, or lies at ease in bed,
And when his life is wasted utterly
he leaves such traces of himself behind
as smoke in air or foam upon the sea.
Get up, then! Conquer your distress with that
brave soul that wins through every fight, unless
it should turn weak beneath the flesh's weight.


but such is the easiest way to convince oneself of one's fame without being famous except to oneself.

Dante - Inferno (Canto IX)

Perche recalcitrate a quella vogila
a cui non puote il fin mai esser mozzo,
e che piu volte v'ha cresciuta doglia?
Che giova ne le fata dar di cozzo?

Why do you kick your heels against the will
of Him whose ends can never be cut short,
who many a time has made your torments grow?
What good is it to butt your heads at fate?