--- title: "4 Anna Comnena Quotes - (The Alexiad)" description: "Anna Komnene, commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine Greek princess and historian. She is the author of the Alexiad, an account of the reig..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b026/author-o-j-simpson-13625.jpg" --- ![Portrait of Anna Comnena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b026/author-o-j-simpson-13625.jpg) # Anna Comnena **4** quotes in **9** categories Rate this collection: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet Anna Komnene, commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine Greek princess and historian. She is the author of the Alexiad, an account of the reign of her father, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. ## Quick Facts About Anna Comnena Notable works The Alexiad ## About Anna Comnena Anna Komnene, commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine Greek princess and historian. She is the author of the Alexiad, an account of the reign of her father, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Her work constitutes the most important primary source of Byzantine history of the late 11th and early 12th centuries, as well as of the early Crusades. Although she is best known as the author of the Alexiad, Anna played an important part in the politics of the time and attempted to depose her brother John II Komnenos as emperor in favour of her husband, Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger. ## Quotes by Anna Comnena > [“It is extraordinary that nobody nowadays under the stress of great troubles is turned into stone or a bird or a tree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-comnena/it-is-extraordinary-that-nobody-nowadays-under-the-stress-of-great/) [Anna Comnena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-comnena/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/anna-comnena-70382_time_it-is-extraordinary-that-nobody-nowadays_818477.jpg) > [“The stream of Time, irresistible, ever moving, carries off and bears away all things that come to birth and plunges them into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-comnena/the-stream-of-time-irresistible-ever-moving-carries-off-and-bears/) [Anna Comnena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-comnena/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50d/anna-comnena-70382_history_the-stream-of-time-irresistible-ever-mov_1332809.jpg) > [“Even now I cannot believe that I am still alive and writing this account of the emperor's death. I put my hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-comnena/even-now-i-cannot-believe-that-i-am-still-alive-and-writing-this/) [Anna Comnena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-comnena/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/anna-comnena-70382_death_even-now-i-cannot-believe-that-i-am-stil_2475569.jpg) > [“For they do not look through to the soul, nor have a keen eye for virtue, but they stop at the outward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-comnena/for-they-do-not-look-through-to-the-soul-nor-have-a-keen-eye-for/) [Anna Comnena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-comnena/) [Superficiality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superficiality/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/anna-comnena-70382_superficiality_for-they-do-not-look-through-to-the-soul_2647543.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-comnena/#itemlist", "name": "Anna Comnena Quotes", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is extraordinary that nobody nowadays under the stress of great troubles is turned into stone or a bird or a tree or some inanimate object; they used to undergo such metamorphoses in ancient times (or so they say), though whether that is myth or a true story I know not. Maybe it would be better to change one's nature into something that lacks all feeling, rather than be so sensitive to evil. Had that been possible, these calamities would in all probability have turned me to stone.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anna Comnena" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-comnena/it-is-extraordinary-that-nobody-nowadays-under-the-stress-of-great/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/anna-comnena-70382_time_it-is-extraordinary-that-nobody-nowadays_818477.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/anna-comnena-70382_time_it-is-extraordinary-that-nobody-nowadays_818477.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/anna-comnena-70382_time_it-is-extraordinary-that-nobody-nowadays_818477.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is extraordinary that nobody nowadays under the stress of great troubles is turned into stone or a bird…” — Anna Comnena", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The stream of Time, irresistible, ever moving, carries off and bears away all things that come to birth and plunges them into utter darkness, both deeds of no account and deeds which are mighty and worthy of commemoration; as the playwright [Sophocles] says, it 'brings to light that which was unseen and shrouds from us that which was manifest.' Nevertheless, the science of History is a great bulwark against this stream of Time; in a way it checks this irresistible flood, it holds in a tight grasp whatever it can seize floating on the surface and will not allow it to slip away into the depths of Oblivion. ...I, having realized the effects wrought by Time, desire now by means of my writings to give an account of my father's deeds, which do not deserve to be consigned to Forgetfulness nor to be swept away on the flood of Time into an ocean of Non-Remembrance; I wish to recall everything…”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anna Comnena" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-comnena/the-stream-of-time-irresistible-ever-moving-carries-off-and-bears/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50d/anna-comnena-70382_history_the-stream-of-time-irresistible-ever-mov_1332809.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50d/anna-comnena-70382_history_the-stream-of-time-irresistible-ever-mov_1332809.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50d/anna-comnena-70382_history_the-stream-of-time-irresistible-ever-mov_1332809.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The stream of Time, irresistible, ever moving, carries off and bears away all things that come to birth and…” — Anna Comnena", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Even now I cannot believe that I am still alive and writing this account of the emperor's death. I put my hands to my eyes, wondering if what I am relating here is not all a dream - or maybe it is not a dream: perhaps it is a delusion and I am mad, the victim of some extraordinary and monstrous hallucination. How comes it that when he is dead I am still numbered among the living?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anna Comnena" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-comnena/even-now-i-cannot-believe-that-i-am-still-alive-and-writing-this/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/anna-comnena-70382_death_even-now-i-cannot-believe-that-i-am-stil_2475569.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/anna-comnena-70382_death_even-now-i-cannot-believe-that-i-am-stil_2475569.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/anna-comnena-70382_death_even-now-i-cannot-believe-that-i-am-stil_2475569.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Even now I cannot believe that I am still alive and writing this account of the emperor's death. I put my…” — Anna Comnena", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For they do not look through to the soul, nor have a keen eye for virtue, but they stop at the outward excellencies of the body, and admire daring, and strength, speed in running, and size, and consider these as fit qualifications for the purple robe and diadem.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anna Comnena" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-comnena/for-they-do-not-look-through-to-the-soul-nor-have-a-keen-eye-for/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/anna-comnena-70382_superficiality_for-they-do-not-look-through-to-the-soul_2647543.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/anna-comnena-70382_superficiality_for-they-do-not-look-through-to-the-soul_2647543.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/anna-comnena-70382_superficiality_for-they-do-not-look-through-to-the-soul_2647543.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For they do not look through to the soul, nor have a keen eye for virtue, but they stop at the outward…” — Anna Comnena", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-comnena/#person", "name": "Anna Comnena", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-comnena/", "image": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b026/author-o-j-simpson-13625.jpg" }, { "@type": "ProfilePage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-comnena/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-comnena/", "name": "Anna Comnena", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-comnena/#person" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/anna-comnena-70382_time_it-is-extraordinary-that-nobody-nowadays_818477.jpg" }, "description": "Anna Komnene, commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine Greek princess and historian. 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