Controversial Sayings

20 sayings found from the Medieval era from 20 authors

Heraclius' city, Constantinople, will be conquered.

— Muhammad c. 620s-630s CE
General

Women are by nature 'deficient and misbegotten.'

— Thomas Aquinas c. 1265-1274
General

What shall I say of the abominable rape of the women? To speak of it is worse than to be silent.

— Pope Urban II 1095
General

The greater part of the world is ignorant of the true wisdom, and is ruled by error and deception.

— Roger Bacon c. 1267
General

Be of one mind and one purpose, that you may conquer your enemies and lead your lives in peace.

— Genghis Khan c. 1200s
General

I have conquered Jerusalem. Now I shall conquer the world.

— Saladin c. 1187
General

By God's teeth, I will sell London if I can find a buyer rich enough!

— Richard the Lionheart 1189
General

It is not proper to teach the Oral Law except to a single individual, and then only if he is a wise and understanding man.

— Maimonides c. 1170-1180
General

Earth’s Secret to a starting Point of Glass Was solved for me; it was the Glass that was the Cause.

— Omar Khayyam c. 11th-12th Century
General

Hindu and Muslim are pots of the same clay; but the potter has given them different names.

— Kabir c. 15th Century
General

I do not know what I have done to deserve such persecution.

— Johannes Gutenberg 1455
General

The world is divided into men who have brains and no religion, and men who have religion and no brains.

— Avicenna (Ibn Sina) approx. 1020
Religious

What is easiest and most useful in arithmetic, such as men frequently require in cases of inheritance, legacies, partition, lawsuits, and trade.

— Al-Khwarizmi 830
General

The earth is a tavern, and we are all drunkards. Some are drunk with wine, others with ambition, still others with love.

— Hafez c. 1380
General

What sholde I speke of the synne of glotonye, that is so greet a synne?

— Geoffrey Chaucer c. 1390s
General

To have another language is to possess a second soul.

— Charlemagne 800
Religious

They eat their meat raw, and they drink blood, and they have no laws, and they worship idols.

— Marco Polo c. 1298-1299
Religious

The women of this country are very beautiful, and they are treated with more respect than the men. They are not veiled, and they have no shame.

— Ibn Battuta 1340s
General

I have persecuted the natives of England beyond all reason.

— William the Conqueror 1087
General

The truth does not contradict the truth; rather, it is consistent with it and bears witness to it.

— Averroes (Ibn Rushd) c. 1180
General
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