Dante’s Inferno Canto Xii-Xiv Response:

(XII. Page 178. 46-51) "..'Coming closer you will see the river of blood that boils the souls of those who through their violence injured others.' (Oh, blind cupidity and insane wrath, spurring us on though our short life on earth to steep us then forever in such misery!)"

I found these lines to be the most moving because of the truth found in them. "Blind cupidity" is blind love, added to wrath, are two major emotions in life that we must learn to never act upon because of the dire consequences that follow them, but in Dante’s Inferno we can see why he wrote about it here because these feelings are just that hard to break. In fact they are so strong that they lead to serious sin, thus the reason they are mentioned here, and the persons failing to refrain from such emotions are in deeper layers of hell.

It's a huge reminder of how we should behave. We cannot let ourselves act on our impulses, whether we are facing puppy love (leading to lust and all its offspring) or trying to put out the raging fire in our hearts (leading to assault, battery, or murder and all their relatives) because doing so is detrimental to the ones we take it out on and ourselves.

It is not mentioned here, but you can gather from the text that you also should not act on your unending grief or sadness because it leads to violence of the body- suicide -something you and all the ones in your life have to burden. The amount of side effects from murder, suicide and taking advantage of someone are countless, which is why it is stressed in the Bible so thoroughly about self-control. Everyone needs discipline, even in the little things because it can turn into something much worse and much more permanent.

Another thing that makes this passage so powerful is because we all struggle with these emotions, even if we know they are there and don't want to be feeling them. Blind love and wretched fury are key emotions in everyone's life and maintaining self-control is very difficult, even for the best of us. Having these emotions and not wanting them to be there is a sickening feeling that makes you feel as if your heart is dragging you through the burning sand and heaping fiery coals onto your mind. There are many of us who can only endure it for so long.