Murasaki Shikibu

Murasaki Shikibu (c. 11th century)

"How sad and cruel it is, the way we cling to what lasts like evening dew!"

• From Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji (chapter 39), translated by Royall Tyler (Penguin Classics, 2003).

Take a look at more Murasaki Shikibu quote pictures, HERE.

Check out other quotes from Japan, HERE.

Glance through other quotes from women throughout history, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE. 

Christine de Pizan

Christine de Pizan (c. 1364-1430)

"Anyone who wanted could cite plentiful examples of exceptional women in the world today: it's simply a matter of looking for them."

• The Book of the City of Ladies (Part I, chapter 41) by Christine de Pizan, translated by Rosalind Brown-Grant (Penguin Classics, 1999).

Take a look at other quote pictures from Christine de Pizan, HERE.

Check out more quotes from women throughout history, HERE.

Glance through other medieval quotes, HERE.

Return to the quote picture page, HERE

Saint Teresa of Avila

Saint Teresa of Avila (c. 1515-1582)

"My head sounds just as if it were full of brimming rivers, and then as if all the water in those rivers came suddenly rushing downward; and a host of little birds seem to be whistling, not in the ears, but in the upper part of the head, where the higher part of the soul is said to be."

• From Interior Castle (Fourth Mansions, chapter I) by St. Teresa of Avila, translated by E. Allison Peers (Dover Publications, 2007).

Take a look at other St, Teresa quote pictures, HERE.

Check out more Christian quote pictures, HERE.

Browse more quote pictures from women throughout history, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE. 

Saint Teresa of Avila

Saint Teresa of Avila (c. 1515-1582)

"Let us leave our reason and our fears in His hands and let us forget the weakness of our nature which is apt to cause us so much worry."

• From Interior Castle (Third Mansions, chapter II) by St. Teresa of Avila, translated by E. Allison Peers (Dover Publications, 2007). 

Take a look at other St, Teresa quote pictures, HERE.

Check out more Christian quote pictures, HERE.

Browse more quote pictures from women throughout history, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE. 

Saint Teresa of Avila

Saint Teresa of Avila (c. 1515-1582)

"Oh, the secrets of God! I should never weary of trying to describe them to you. If I thought I could do so successfully. I do not mind if I write any amount of nonsense, provided that just once in a way I can write sense, so that we may give great praise to the Lord."

• From Interior Castle (Fifth Mansions, chapter I) by St. Teresa of Avila, translated by E. Allison Peers (Dover Publications, 2007).

Take a look at other St, Teresa quote pictures, HERE.

Check out more Christian quote pictures, HERE.

Browse more quote pictures from women throughout history, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE. 

Brynhild (Saga of the Volsungs)

Brynhild (from the Saga of the Volsungs)

"Now shall you choose,
 As you are offered a choice,
 O maple shaft of sharp weapons.
 Speech or silence,
 You must muse for yourself.
 All words are already decided."

• A poem attributed to Brynhild in The Saga of the Volsungs (chapter 21), by an anonymous 13th century Icelander, translated by Jesse L. Byock (Penguin Classics, 1990, 1999).

Take a look at other Sturluson/Norse quote pictures, HERE.

Check out other medieval quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE.

Christine de Pizan

Christine de Pizan

"Don't you know it's the very finest things which are the subject of the most intense discussion?"

• The Book of the City of Ladies (Part I, chapter 2) by Christine de Pizan, translated by Rosalind Brown-Grant (Penguin Classics, 1999).

Take a look at other quote pictures from Christine de Pizan, HERE.

Check out more quotes from women throughout history, HERE.

Glance through other medieval quotes, HERE.

Return to the quote picture page, HERE

Murasaki Shikibu

Murasaki Shikibu (10th-11th century)

"The heart decides what is to become of us. The great-hearted have great good fortune, and likewise the pusillanimous. Those who rise high have little peace, the reckless do not last, and those whose hearts are meek and mild are most likely to endure."

•  From Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji (chapter 35), translated by Royall Tyler (Penguin Classics, 2003).

Take a look at more Murasaki Shikibu quote pictures, HERE.

Check out other quotes from Japan, HERE.

Glance through other quotes from women throughout history, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE.

Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)

"Victory means the same thing always, but the means by which generals attain it are varied and of intricate patterns."

• The Alexiad (Book XV, section 3) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

Read our biography on Anna Komnene, HERE.

Take a look at other Anna Komnene quote pictures, HERE.

Check out other medieval quote pictures, HERE.

Look at more quotes from women throughout history, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE.

Brynhild (Saga of the Volsungs)

Brynhild (from the Saga of the Volsungs)

"It is better to fight with your enemies than to be burned at home."

• From The Saga of the Volsungs (chapter 22), by an anonymous 13th century Icelander, translated by Jesse L. Byock (Penguin Classics, 1990, 1999).

Take a look at other Sturluson/Norse quote pictures, HERE.

Check out other medieval quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE.

Christine de Pizan

Christine de Pizan (c. 1364-1430)

"Human superiority or inferiority is not determined by sexual difference but by the degree to which one has perfected one's own nature and morals."

• The Book of the City of Ladies (Part I, chapter 9) by Christine de Pizan, translated by Rosalind Brown-Grant (Penguin Classics, 1999).

Take a look at other quote pictures from Christine de Pizan, HERE.

Check out more quotes from women throughout history, HERE.

Glance through other medieval quotes, HERE.

Return to the quote picture page, HERE.  

St. Teresa of Avila

St. Teresa of Avila (c. 1515-1582)

"The soul remains all the time in that centre with its God. We might say that union is as if the ends of two wax candles were joined so that the light they give is one: the wicks and the wax and the light are all one."

• From Interior Castle (Seventh Mansions, chapter II) by St. Teresa of Avila, translated by E. Allison Peers (Dover Publications, 2007).

Take a look at other St, Teresa quote pictures, HERE.

Check out more Christian quote pictures, HERE.

Browse more quote pictures from women throughout history, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE.

Brynhild (Saga of the Volsungs)

Brynhild (from the Saga of the Volsungs)

"Endure with patience and you will win long-lasting praise."

• From The Saga of the Volsungs (chapter 22), by an anonymous 13th century Icelander, translated by Jesse L. Byock (Penguin Classics, 1990, 1999).

Take a look at other Sturluson/Norse quote pictures, HERE.

Check out other medieval quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE. 

Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)

"Barbarians are arrogant by nature, with their heads almost in the clouds."

• The Alexiad (Book XV, section 6) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

Read our biography on Anna Komnene, HERE.

Take a look at other Anna Komnene quote pictures, HERE.

Check out other medieval quote pictures, HERE.

Look at more quotes from women throughout history, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE. 

Christine de Pizan

Christine de Pizan (c. 1364-1430)

"It is truly wicked of people to try to turn something which is as good and praiseworthy in a woman - her tenderness - into something bad and blameworthy. Women love children because they're not acting out of ignorance but rather a natural instinct to be gentle. And if being gentle therefore means they are childlike, so much the better for them."

• From The Book of the City of Ladies (Part I, chapter 10) by Christine de Pizan, translated by Rosalind Brown-Grant (Penguin Classics, 1999).

Take a look at other quote pictures from Christine de Pizan, HERE.

Check out more quotes from women throughout history, HERE.

Glance through other medieval quotes, HERE.

Return to the quote picture page, HERE. 

Gudrun Osvifsdottir

Gudrun Osvifsdottir (said to have lived c. 970-1050)

"Tarry-long brings little home."

• Quote attributed to Gudrun Osvifsdottir in the anonymously-written Laxdæla Saga (section 35), c. 13th century, translated by Keneva Kunz. New York: Penguin Classics, 2008.

Take a look at other Norse/Scandinavian quote pictures, HERE.

Check out other medieval quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE.

Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1342-1400)

"It's men that are untrue
And women, women ever blamed anew.
I think it a pretence that men profess
They hide behind a charge of faithlessness."

• The Canterbury Tales (The Merchant's Tale) by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated to modern English by Nevill Coghill (Penguin Classics, 2003).

Watch a short YouTube video about the life of Geoffrey Chaucer, HERE.

Read out article about the life of Geoffrey Chaucer, HERE.

Take a look at more Geoffrey Chaucer quote pictures, HERE.

Check out more medieval quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote pictures home page, HERE.

Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)

"The opposition is strong when the whole body is welded together and of one mind; but let there be faction, and it splits up into many parts and becomes feebler, an easy prey to its enemies."

• The Alexiad (Book XIII, section 4) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

Read our biography on Anna Komnene, HERE.

Take a look at other Anna Komnene quote pictures, HERE.

Check out other medieval quote pictures, HERE.

Look at more quotes from women throughout history, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE.

Christine de Pizan

Christine de Pizan (c. 1364-1430)

"Despite what the slanderers say, there's a positively infinite number of countesses, baronesses, ladies, maidens, bourgeoises and women of every estate who are honourable and distinguished."

• From The Book of the City of Ladies (Part II, chapter 68) by Christine de Pizan, translated by Rosalind Brown-Grant (Penguin Classics, 1999).

Take a look at other quote pictures from Christine de Pizan, HERE.

Check out more quotes from women throughout history, HERE.

Glance through other medieval quotes, HERE.

Return to the quote picture page, HERE.

Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)
"Such is every barbarian - constantly lusting after massacre and war."

• The Alexiad (Book IX, section 3) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

Read our biography on Anna Komnene, HERE.

Take a look at other Anna Komnene quote pictures, HERE.

Check out other medieval quote pictures, HERE.

Look at more quotes from women throughout history, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE.