December 28, 2008: Bernard Lewis on the penitence of the West - 0 Comments

"Why, then, did the peoples of Europe embark on this vast expansion and, by means of conquest, conversion, and colonization, attempt to create a Eurocentric world? Was it, as some believe, because of some deep-seated, perhaps hereditary vice--some profound moral flaw? The question is unanswerable because it is wrongly posed. In setting out to conquer, subjugate, and despoil other peoples, the Europeans were merely following the example set them by their neighbors and predecessors and, indeed, conforming to the common practice of mankind. . . The interesting questions are not why they tried, but why they succeeded and why, having succeeded, they repented of their success as a sin. The success was unique in modern times; the repentance, in all of recorded history."

December 18: Santa Maria on the power of language - 1 Comments

"Since the royal power is today Castilian, and since the excellent king and queen who rule us have chosen to make the realm of Castile the base and seat of their states, I have decided to write this book in Castilian, because language, more than all else, accompanies power."

- Gonzalo Garcia de Santa Maria, Aragonese scholar, 1492.

December 4, 2008: Gumilev on Paul's introduction of Evil - 1 Comments

"On the other hand, Paul's mission, addressed to educated heathens, found many converts. The Hellenes were particularly startled by the idea, then strange to them, of the existence of evil, and they began to interpret it in various ways . . ."