Hypatia

Mathematics Egyptian-Greek 360 – 415 270 quotes

First notable female mathematician and philosopher

Quotes by Hypatia

Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.

Attributed

All religions are founded on fear and are an attempt to dispel the unknown.

Attributed

Fables should be taught as fables, myths as myths, and miracles as poetic fancies. To teach superstitions as truths is a most terrible thing. The child mind accepts and believes them, and only with great difficulty can they be afterward set aside. The mind that has for years been believing in fables and miracles is not a logical mind. It is not a mind prepared for the world. It is not a mind prepared to understand the world.

Attributed

Men are not to be taught to think, but to believe.

Attributed

To teach superstitions as truths is a most terrible thing.

Attributed

Life is an unfoldment, and the further we travel the more truth we can comprehend. To understand the things that are at our door is the best preparation for understanding those that lie beyond.

Attributed

Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.

Attributed

The greatest evil is not to act, but to be acted upon.

Attributed

She was a woman who, for her knowledge of philosophy and mathematics, was held in such esteem that she was deemed worthy to succeed her father Theon in the headship of the Platonic school.

Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History 415

She made such progress in literature and science, as to surpass all the philosophers of her own time.

Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History 415

She was a virgin, and she preserved her virginity to the end of her life.

Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History 415

She was a woman of such eloquence and modesty, that she received all who desired to consult her, and explained to them the principles of philosophy.

Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History 415

She was so learned in mathematics and astronomy that she was able to invent an astrolabe and a hydroscope.

Synesius of Cyrene, Letters 415

You have taught me to look at the heavens, and to understand the harmony of the spheres.

Synesius of Cyrene, Letters 415

I have seen the light of truth in your teachings.

Synesius of Cyrene, Letters 415

You are my revered teacher, my guide, my mother, my sister, my everything.

Synesius of Cyrene, Letters 415

The mind that has for years been believing in fables and miracles is not a logical mind.

Attributed

It is not a mind prepared for the world. It is not a mind prepared to understand the world.

Attributed

Fables should be taught as fables, myths as myths, and miracles as poetic fancies. To teach superstitions as truths is a most terrible thing.

Attributed, but no direct written works survive

All religions are founded on fables and on a belief in things that are incredible.

Attributed, but no direct written works survive