--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Perceive ye not that we are worms…" description: "\"Perceive ye not that we are worms, designed To form the angelic butterfly, that goes To judgment, leaving all defence behind? Why doth your mind take s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c35/dante-alighieri-590_angelic_perceive-ye-not-that-we-are-worms-design_2158158.jpg" --- # Perceive ye not that we are worms, designed To form the… ![“Perceive ye not that we are worms, designed To form the angelic butterfly, that goes To judgment, leaving all defence behind? Why doth your mind take such exalted pose, Since ye, disabled, are as insects, mean As worm which never transformation knows?” quote by Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c35/dante-alighieri-590_angelic_perceive-ye-not-that-we-are-worms-design_2158158.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c35/dante-alighieri-590_angelic_perceive-ye-not-that-we-are-worms-design_2158158.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c35/dante-alighieri-590_angelic_perceive-ye-not-that-we-are-worms-design_2158158.jpg) > “Perceive ye not that we are worms, designed To form the angelic butterfly, that goes To judgment, leaving all defence behind? Why doth your mind take such exalted pose, Since ye, disabled, are as insects, mean As worm which never transformation knows?” [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Compares human frailty to worms, questioning lofty self‑importance when we are fundamentally limited. **In simple terms:** Human frailty vs. pride. Key Takeaway Recognize limits before boasting. Themes humility existential selfawareness Mood reflective solemn Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - philosophical debate - personal reflection - literary analysis Key Concepts metaphor human condition Questions to Reflect On - Do you see yourself as a worm or a butterfly? - How does humility affect ambition? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex human potential. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Angelic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/angelic/) [Butterfly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butterfly/) [Defence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defence/) [Insects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insects/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Transformation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transformation/) ## Related quotes > [O you proud Christians, wretched souls and small,/ Who by the dim lights of your twisted minds/ Believe you prosper even as you fall,/…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/o-you-proud-christians-wretched-souls-and-small-who-by-the-dim-lights/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [Do ye not comprehend that we are worms born to bring forth the angelic butterfly that flieth unto judgment without screen?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/do-ye-not-comprehend-that-we-are-worms-born-to-bring-forth-the/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [If your Olympic Hero were to use the Worm in the 1996 Olympic Games, it would be so embarassing to all the other atheletes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-angle/if-your-olympic-hero-were-to-use-the-worm-in-the-1996-olympic-games/) [Kurt Angle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-angle/) > [I am both a night owl and an early bird. So I am wise and I have worms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-am-both-a-night-owl-and-an-early-bird-so-i-am-wise-and-i-have-worms/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We are all worms. However, I like to think I'm a glow worm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/we-are-all-worms-however-i-like-to-think-i-m-a-glow-worm/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [To a worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-a-worm-in-horseradish-the-world-is-horseradish/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What the worm was to the corpse, his sins would be to the painted image on the canvas. They would mar its beauty, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/what-the-worm-was-to-the-corpse-his-sins-would-be-to-the-painted/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [To suggest that God specifically created a worm to torture small African children is blasphemy as far as I can see. The Archbishop of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/to-suggest-that-god-specifically-created-a-worm-to-torture-small/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [One who makes himself a worm cannot complain afterwards if people step on him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/one-who-makes-himself-a-worm-cannot-complain-afterwards-if-people/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [We are all worms. But I believe that I am a glow-worm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/we-are-all-worms-but-i-believe-that-i-am-a-glow-worm/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [It costs me never a stab nor squirm / To tread by chance upon a worm. / Aha, my little dear, / I say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/it-costs-me-never-a-stab-nor-squirm-to-tread-by-chance-upon-a-worm/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [The early bird may get the worm, but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-paxman/the-early-bird-may-get-the-worm-but-its-the-second-mouse-that-gets/) [Jeremy Paxman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-paxman/) > [The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-early-bird-gets-the-worm-but-the-second-mouse-gets-the-cheese/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In neurotics, worm phobias are usually found as well as snake phobias.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-abraham/in-neurotics-worm-phobias-are-usually-found-as-well-as-snake-phobias/) [Karl Abraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-abraham/) > [It has long been my desire to be a little worm in the fair apple of Progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwood-anderson/it-has-long-been-my-desire-to-be-a-little-worm-in-the-fair-apple-of/) [Sherwood Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwood-anderson/) ## More by Dante Alighieri > [In that part of the book of my memory before the which is little that can be read, there is a rubric, saying, Incipit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/in-that-part-of-the-book-of-my-memory-before-the-which-is-little-that/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [“Be as a tower, that, firmly set, Shakes not its top for any blast that blows!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/be-as-a-tower-that-firmly-set-shakes-not-its-top-for-any-blast-that/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [Pure essence, and pure matter, and the two joined into one were shot forth without flaw, like three bright arrows from a three-string bow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/pure-essence-and-pure-matter-and-the-two-joined-into-one-were-shot/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [Into the eternal darkness, into fire and into ice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/into-the-eternal-darkness-into-fire-and-into-ice/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [O power of fantasy that steals our minds from things outside, to leave us unaware, although a thousand trumpets may blow loud--what stirs you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/o-power-of-fantasy-that-steals-our-minds-from-things-outside-to-leave/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [The purpose of the whole (work) is to remove those who are living in this life from a state of wretchedness and lead them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/the-purpose-of-the-whole-work-is-to-remove-those-who-are-living-in/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [“Noi leggeveamo un giorno per diletto Di Lancialotto, come amor lo strinse; Soli eravamo e senza alcun sospetto Per più fiate gli occhi ci…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/noi-leggeveamo-un-giorno-per-diletto-di-lancialotto-come-amor-lo/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [Love can move the Sun and the stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/love-can-move-the-sun-and-the-stars/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [Oh foolish desires of mortals! How weak are the reasons that lead us to not take off our flight from the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/oh-foolish-desires-of-mortals-how-weak-are-the-reasons-that-lead-us/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [“On march the banners of the King of Hell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/on-march-the-banners-of-the-king-of-hell/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [Seldom indeed does human virtue rise From trunk to branch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/seldom-indeed-does-human-virtue-rise-from-trunk-to-branch/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [All hope abandon, ye who enter here!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/all-hope-abandon-ye-who-enter-here/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [We have no hope and yet we live in longing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/we-have-no-hope-and-yet-we-live-in-longing/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [Not one drop of blood is left inside my veins that does not throb: I recognize signs of the ancient flame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/not-one-drop-of-blood-is-left-inside-my-veins-that-does-not-throb-i/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [It is necessity and not pleasure that compels us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/it-is-necessity-and-not-pleasure-that-compels-us/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) [Explore all 414 Dante Alighieri quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) ## More Angelic quotes > [And so it is, that both the Devil and the angelic Spirit present us with objects of desire to awaken our power of choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/and-so-it-is-that-both-the-devil-and-the-angelic-spirit-present-us/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [ No visiting angel, or explorer from another planet, could have guessed that this bland orb \[Earth\] teemed with vermin, with world-mastering, self-torturing, incipiently angelic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-stapledon/no-visiting-angel-or-explorer-from-another-planet-could-have-guessed/) [Olaf Stapledon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-stapledon/) > [May be refined, and join the angelic train.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillis-wheatley/may-be-refined-and-join-the-angelic-train/) [Phillis Wheatley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillis-wheatley/) > [One cricket said to another - come, let us be ridiculous, and say love! love love love love love let us be absurd, woman,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/one-cricket-said-to-another-come-let-us-be-ridiculous-and-say-love/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [Elijah looks angelic but his beauty of spirit is what makes his Frodo leap out of the screen. Unalloyed goodness is one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/elijah-looks-angelic-but-his-beauty-of-spirit-is-what-makes-his-frodo/) [Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/) > [ He \[Ryan White\] had a kind of angelic aura about him. And his family, too, it's like, they are going through all this suffering,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elton-john/he-ryan-white-had-a-kind-of-angelic-aura-about-him-and-his-family-too/) [Elton John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elton-john/) > [If you wish to become a divine immortal angel, then restore the angelic qualities of your being through virtue and service. This is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/if-you-wish-to-become-a-divine-immortal-angel-then-restore-the/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Jesus is not directing the angelic choir, taking long naps, or doing crossword puzzles. He is completely focused on building his church, the hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hybels/jesus-is-not-directing-the-angelic-choir-taking-long-naps-or-doing/) [Bill Hybels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hybels/) > [“We are all angelic. Offspring of godly relic, accept and be prophetic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-d-gonsalves/we-are-all-angelic-offspring-of-godly-relic-accept-and-be-prophetic/) [Gloria D. Gonsalves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-d-gonsalves/) > [I'm sorry, but anyone who thinks the use of an angelic (or seemingly angelic character), whose likes have been written about for, oh, about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-michael-straczynski/i-m-sorry-but-anyone-who-thinks-the-use-of-an-angelic-or-seemingly/) [J. Michael Straczynski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-michael-straczynski/) > [Most angelic communications are felt or heard rather than seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallin-h-oaks/most-angelic-communications-are-felt-or-heard-rather-than-seen/) [Dallin H. Oaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallin-h-oaks/) > [“Cherubs fan our foolish fires, filling hearts with mad desires. They prick our pride and haughtiness with quick, angelic naughtiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-biccard/cherubs-fan-our-foolish-fires-filling-hearts-with-mad-desires-they/) [John Biccard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-biccard/) > [Black hair, angelic face, and devil eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/black-hair-angelic-face-and-devil-eyes/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [The poor man shuddered, overflowed with an angelic joy; he declared in his transport that this would last through life; he said to himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-poor-man-shuddered-overflowed-with-an-angelic-joy-he-declared-in/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Do ye not comprehend that we are worms born to bring forth the angelic butterfly that flieth unto judgment without screen?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/do-ye-not-comprehend-that-we-are-worms-born-to-bring-forth-the/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) [Browse all 149 Angelic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/angelic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Perceive ye not that we are worms, designed To form the angelic butterfly, that goes To judgment, leaving all defence behind? 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