The Malleus Maleficarum (Kramer and Sprenger)

The Malleus Maleficarum
Written by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger
Circa 1486

• Kramer and Sprenger were two well-known members of the Inquisition. Their Malleus Maleficarum was one of the books most often used by witch hunters.

"The question arises whether people who hold that witches do not exist are to be regarded as notorious heretics, or whether they are to be regarded as gravely suspect of holding heretical opinions. It seems the first opinion is the correct one."


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Han Fei Tzu

Han Fei Tzu (c. 280-233 BCE)

• This ancient Chinese philosopher wrote bluntly about his admiration for Legalism and Authoritarianism. 

"Be empty, still, and idle, and from your place of darkness observe the defects in others."

• From Han Fei Tzu's Basic Writings translated by Burton Watson - Specifically, The Way of the Ruler.

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Al-Ghazali

Al-Ghazali (1058-1111 CE)

"Each thing has two faces; a face toward itself, and a face toward its Lord. Viewed in terms of the face of itself, it is nonexistent; but viewed in terms of the face of God, it exists."

• From Al-Ghazali's The Niche of Lights translated by David Buchman.

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St. Augustine of Hippo

St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE)

"What is it in the soul that causes it to take more pleasure in things that it loves when they are found and recovered than if it has always had them?"

• From St. Augustine's Confessions.

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (1083-1153)

• Anna Komnene was the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor, Alexios I (ruled 1081-1118). She wrote her Alexiad to serve as a history of her father's imperial reign.

"Time, which flies irresistibly and perpetually, sweeps up and carries away with it everything that has seen the light of day and plunges it into utter darkness, whether deeds of no significance or those that are mighty and worthy of commemoration."

• From Anna Komnene's prologue to The Alexiad.

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Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu (Ancient Daoist Founder)

"Highest good is like water. Because water excels in benefiting the myriad creatures without contending with them and settles where none would like to be, it comes close to the way."

• From Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching.

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John Skylitzes

John Skylitzes (Byzantine Historian, 1040-1101 CE)

"Reading provokes recollection; recollection nourishes and expands memory, just as, quite the contrary, negligence and laziness provoke forgetfulness which darkens and confuses the memory of what has happened in the past."

• From John Skylitzes' A Synopsis of Byzantine History (811-1057) translated by John Wortley.

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Second Epistle of Clement

Second Epistle of Clement (written in the 2nd century CE)

"This is the reason people cannot find peace. They give way to human fears, and prefer the pleasures of the present to the promises of the future."

• This quote comes from Second Clement ("The Second Epistle of Clement") in Bart D. Ehrman's After the New Testament: A Reader in Early Christianity.

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Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius

"Be not querulous, be Content with little, be kind, be free; avoid all superfluity, all vain prattling; be magnanimous."

• From Marcus Aurelius' Meditations (Book V)

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Read a short biography about Marcus Aurelius, here.

Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BCE)

"What good is it if I own lots of things but accomplish nothing?"

• Quote by Alexander the Great found in Thomas R. Martin's and Christopher W. Blackwell's book, Alexander the Great: The Story of an Ancient Life.

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Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE)

"Fear does not generally admit of mercy in extreme danger."

• From Julius Caesar's War Commentaries.

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Mo Tzu

Mo Tzu (5th and 4th Centuries BCE)

"Hence fatalism brings no benefit to Heaven above, no benefit to the spirits in the middle realm, and no benefit to mankind below."

• From Mo Tzu's Basic Writings, translated by Burton Watson.

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Chuang Tzu

Chuang Tzu (4th and 3rd Century BCE)

• As a Daoist, Chuang Tzu believed the proper way to live was through non-action, or more simply, living without an intention in mind. When humans do not forge their own paths, they follow the way already laid out by the Dao. His vision of a perfect government incorporated the same idea: he suggests the government should take minimal action and let things develop naturally.

"The government of the enlightened King? His achievements blanket the world but appear not to be of his own doing. His transforming influence touches the ten thousand things but the people do not depend on him. With him there is no promotion or praise - he lets everything find its own way."

• From Chuang Tzu's Basic Writings translated by Burton Watson.

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Martin Luther

Martin Luther (1483-1546 CE)

"I would rather have the wrath of the world upon me than the wrath of God."

• To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Concerning the Reform of the Christian Estate, 1620.

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Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
In this passage, Franklin discusses an agreement that he made with a friend concerning death and the afterlife.

"He and I had made a serious Agreement, that the one who happened first to die, should if possible make a friendly Visit to the other, and acquaint him how he found things in the Separate State. But he never fulfill'd his Promise."

• From Franklin's Autobiography and Other Writings.

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Plato

Plato (around 427-347 BCE)

"If someone is self-disciplined and good-tempered, old age isn't too much of a burden; otherwise, it's not just a question of old age, Socrates--Such a person will find life difficult when he's young as well."

• From Plato's Republic.

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Egil

Egil Skallagrimsson (10th century Viking)

• Egil's Saga (written between the 10th and 13th centuries) gives a rare glimpse into the mind of a viking warrior who outlived his prime and lived on to become an elderly man. Besides being an incredibly successful viking, Egil was also a life-long poet.

"Blind, I must bear
this eye ailment,
blunder to the fire, beg
mercy from a maidservant;
formerly a fierce king
warmed to my words;
the noble lords of lands
gave me gold as reward."

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Lucian of Samosata

Lucian of Samosata (2nd century CE Satirist)

• In this passage from Philosophies for Sale, Lucian satirizes the various philosophies of the Roman world. He likens philosophy teachers to merchants advertising their wares.

"The noblest of philosophies for sale, the most distinguished; who'll buy? Who wants to be more than man? Who wants to apprehend the music of the spheres and to be born again?"

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Demeter

Demeter (Greek and Roman goddess)

• This quote is from the 7th century BCE Homeric Hymn to Demeter

"Humans are short-sighted, stupid, ignorant of the share of good or evil which is coming to them."

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Mencius

Mencius (4th Century BCE Chinese Philosopher)

• He was a Confucian philosopher who based his work off the assumption that human nature inclined towards goodness.

"A man must not be without shame, for the shame of being without shame is shamelessness indeed."
 (Translated by D. C. Lau)

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Read a short Mencius biography, HERE.

Marcus Aurelius - 2nd Century Roman Emperor

Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE)
Roman Emperor

"Think thyself fit and worthy to speak, or do anything that is according to nature, and let not the reproach, or report of some that may ensue upon it, ever deter thee."

• From Marcus Aurelius' Meditations (Book V)

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Read a short biography about Marcus Aurelius, here.

Porphyry

Porphyry (lived approximately 234-305 CE)

• He was a critic of Christianity in the Roman Empire. One of his most effective tactics was urging for Jesus to be accepted into the pantheon of Roman gods.

This quote is from his work, Philosophy from Oracles
(This section was recorded by Eusebius. Augustine and Lactantius also quoted this section)
Sadly, Porphyry's original Philosophy from Oracles remains lost.

"What I am about to say may seem surprising to some, namely that the gods have proclaimed Christ to be most pious and immortal, and that they remember him in a laudatory way."

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Diogenes Laertius

Diogenes Laetrius (3rd Century biographer of philosophers)
From VII, 40

"No part of philosophy is separate from another part; they all combine as a mixture."

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Epicurus

Epicurus (341-270 BCE)
From Principal Doctrines (Kuriai doxai)

"Of all the things which wisdom secures for the attainment of happiness throughout the whole of life, by far the greatest is the possession of friendship."

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Heraclitus

Heraclitus (6th and 5th Century BCE)

"One thing is wisdom: to be skilled in the plan upon which all things are controlled throughout the universe."

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Martin Luther

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

"I enter the fray after careful reflection and in a sufficiently hostile frame of mind."

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The Buddha

The Buddha (from 3rd Century BCE Dhammapada)

"Better than living a hundred years
not seeing arising and passing away,
is a single day lived
arising and passing away seen."

• From The Dhammapada (Verses on the Way, Chapter 8), recorded in the 3rd century BCE. Translation by Glenn Wallis, 2004.

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Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

"Man is nothing else than what he makes of himself."

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Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert (1920-1986)

"Historians exercise great power and some of them know it. They recreate the past, changing it to fit their own interpretations. Thus, they change the future as well."

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Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou (1928-2014)

"History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again."

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Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986)

"There are many men adept in those diverse disciplines, but few capable of imagination - fewer still capable of subordination imagination to a rigorous and systematic plan. The plan is so vast that the contribution of each writer is infinitesimal."

From "Tlön Uqbar Orbis Tertius"

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