Iain Pears Quotes

25 quotes in 531 categories

• He (William Cort) had some desire to be successful, but it did not burn so strongly in him that he was prepared to overcome his…
• Virtue comes through contemplation of the divine, and the exercise of philosophy. But it also comes through public service. The one is incomplete without the…
• For men are held above their fellows by the gossamer of reputation, which is so soft and fragile a breath can blow it away.
• The simple fact that something has not been done, is no proof that it cannot be.
• Power without wisdom is tyranny; wisdom without power is pointless,
• He who profits by villainy, has perpetrated it.
• Philosophy cannot be extinguished, though men will try ... The spirit seeks the light, that is its nature. It wishes to return to its origin,…
• Manlius ... took care in his invitations, actively sought to exclude from his circle crude and vulgar men like Caius Valerius. But they were all…
• [Men] prefer the foolish belief and the passions of the earth [to the enlightenment of their souls]. They believe the absurd and shrink from the…
• And a more foolish notion can scarcely be imagined, it being obvious that the reader is only informed of what the writer wishes him to…
• God forbid that I should ever suffer the shame of publishing a book for money, or of having one of my family so demean themselves.…
• Shame, I do believe, is the most powerful emotion known to man; most discoveries and journeys of importance have been accomplished because of the ignominy…
• Who you are is less important than what you seem.
• I learned that I' have to be detached if I was ever to achieve anything at all.
• Every cataclysm is welcomed by somebody; there is always someone to rejoice at disaster and see in it the prospect of a new beginning and…
• The devil himself can become beauty, so we are told, to corrupt mankind." (Marco)
• 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.
• 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…
• 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…
• She was looking for something I could never give her." Again his dark eyes bored into Julia's mind. "You have something of the same about…

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