Quote by Hilary Mantel

“It was expected, however, that [Erasmus] should make some reply and give some definition. But instead, by availing himself of a rhetorical transition, he…

— Martin Luther

“No seventeenth-century pedagogue would have publicly advised his disciple, as did Erasmus in his Dialogues, on the choice of a good prostitute.”

— Michel Foucault

“At the same time he could hardly believe what he had been reading. It struck him as verging on madness. This wild confession, this…

— Barry Unsworth

“Why all this deference to Alfred, and Scanderbeg, and Gustavus? Suppose they were virtuous; did they wear out virtue?”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Be he poor, be he friendless,here he may acquire distinction, the reward of merit alone. Knowledge to him will here unfold her ample page;…

— Charles Nicholson

from you, my dear Erasmus, let me obtain this request, that just as I bear with your ignorance in these matters, so you in…

— Martin Luther

“In the softest little voice he said, “This slave is beneath your attention.” In Akielos, submission was an art, and the slave was the…

— C.S. Pacat

“then it occurred to him that a worthy man dedicates himself not to one particular thing which attracts him, but to all tasks; and…

— James A. Michener

“Be what it may, I will always esteem and adore the divine genius of this Gentleman, taking from him what I understand with humility…

— Lope de Vega

“He had a singularly charming smile, and it ensured for him, no matter how exacting might be his demands, the uncomplaining exertions of his…

— Georgette Heyer

“This praise, though far from fulsome, gave me pleasure and that is to my shame. But there was something in him, some power of…

— Barry Unsworth

“She said a ruler must learn to persuade and not to compel. She said he must lay the best coffee hearth to attract the…

— Frank Herbert