“Considering he was neither priest nor scholar, the young man gave sensible, thoughtful replies -- the more so, perhaps, for being untrained,… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
Was not Hypatia the greatest philosopher of Alexandria, and a true martyr to the old values of learning? She was torn to… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“Olivier took a deep breath, then turned and bowed in farewell. Gersonides nodded in return, then thought of something. "The manuscript you… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“I have brought peace to this land, and security," he began. "And what of your soul, when you use the cleverness of… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“[T]he concern of man is not his future but his present, not the world but his soul. We must be just, we… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
Virtue comes through contemplation of the divine, and the exercise of philosophy. But it also comes through public service. The one is… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“She had lost herself in this old work, her personality dissolving into it, so that she had been set free. The immortality… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
Manlius ... took care in his invitations, actively sought to exclude from his circle crude and vulgar men like Caius Valerius. But… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
Philosophy cannot be extinguished, though men will try ... The spirit seeks the light, that is its nature. It wishes to return… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
Action is the activity of the rational soul, which abhors irrationality and must combat it or be corrupted by it. When it… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
The point of civilization is to be civilized; the purpose of action is to perpetuate society, for only in society can philosophy… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“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… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“The next day was a dream of such perfection that I have never approached the like again. It was, of course, all illusion, but… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
And a more foolish notion can scarcely be imagined, it being obvious that the reader is only informed of what the writer wishes him… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
I learned that I' have to be detached if I was ever to achieve anything at all. — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“And here was the moment. The end of it all, for civilization was merely another name for friendship, and friendship was coming to an… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
When all this is over, people will try to blame the Germans alone, and the Germans will try to blame the Nazis alone, and… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“Considering he was neither priest nor scholar, the young man gave sensible, thoughtful replies -- the more so, perhaps, for being untrained, for he… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“Felix had gone to live in a lotus land of his imagination. Where what is desired is dreamed of as already happened, where obstacles… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
In my small way, I preserved and catalogued, and dipped into the vast ocean of learning that awaited, knowing all the time that the… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“Aunt Gertie could not tell the difference between 1928 and now. Uncle Joseph was dead and alive. In other words, she grasped the essential… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“I cannot remember a single painting, although I do remember trying hard to be deeply impressed by them at the time.” — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“It was, for the time being, an empty threat, and he must have sensed it also, for he laughed easily and with contempt. “You… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
