Iain Pears Quotes

Was not Hypatia the greatest philosopher of Alexandria, and a true martyr to the old values of learning? She was torn to pieces by a mob of incensed Christians not because she was a woman, but because...

Odd, don't you think? I have seen war, and invasions and riots. I have heard of massacres and brutalities beyond imagining, and I have kept my faith in the power of civilization to bring men back from...

About Author

Iain George Pears (born 8 August 1955) is an English art historian, novelist and journalist.

[Pope] Clement waved his hands in irritation as if to dismiss the very idea. The world is crumbling into ruin. Armies are marching. Men and women are dying everywhere, in huge numbers. Fields are aban...

The point of civilization is to be civilized; the purpose of action is to perpetuate society, for only in society can philosophy truly take place.

I have brought peace to this land, and security, he began.And what of your soul, when you use the cleverness of argument to cloak such acts? Do you think that the peace of a thousand cancels out the u...

Philosophy cannot be extinguished, though men will try ... The spirit seeks the light, that is its nature. It wishes to return to its origin, and must forever try to reach enlightenment.

When all this is over, people will try to blame the Germans alone, and the Germans will try to blame the Nazis alone, and the Nazis will try to blame Hitler alone. They will make him bear the sins of...

Considering he was neither priest nor scholar, the young man gave sensible, thoughtful replies -- the more so, perhaps, for being untrained, for he had not learned what he should believe or should not...

Do you wish to speak in Provençal, French, or Latin? They are all I can manage, I'm afraid.Any will do, the rabbi replied in Provençal.Splendid. Latin it is, said Pope Clement.

A hundred francs! Oh, dear me! It is worth millions of francs, my child. But my -- dealer -- here tells me that in fact a picture is worth only what someone will give for it. How much money do you hav...

Do you know, the only people I can have a conversation with are the Jews? At least when they quote scripture at you they are not merely repeating something some priest has babbled in their ear. They h...

He who profits by villainy, has perpetrated it.

But what's the point of freedom? Do you think you can change anything?''Of course not. We are waiting.''For what?''Until the world changes on it's own. That is the one truth of history. Everything end...

Politics bores you? Bronsen said.Julien smiled. It does. Apologies, sir, and it is not that I haven't tried to be fascinated. But careful and meticulous research has suggested the hypothesis that all...

[T]he concern of man is not his future but his present, not the world but his soul. We must be just, we must strive, we must engage ourselves with the business of the world for our own sake, because t...

Olivier took a deep breath, then turned and bowed in farewell. Gersonides nodded in return, then thought of something.The manuscript you brought me, by that bishop. It argues that understanding is mor...

He had volunteered early, rather than waiting to be conscripted, for he felt a duty and an obligation to serve, and believed that ... being willing to fight for his country and the liberty it represen...

They respect their betters, and fear those below them.

Lying, he said out loud, hoping no one would hear. I need to lie. Teach me, quickly.I wouldn't if I were you, came the response. For a start, it's a variable concept here. You are in a culture where a...

Father is a school ... He always wanted to write books. But he became rich instead, so is not allowed.