13th Century Quotes & Sayings

It became the country's official language in the 13th century under the reign of Alfonso X el Sabio (the wise one) as he tried to unify a country that was housing a number of languages, including arabic, hebrew and latin. — Pilar Orti

I lost everything I had, but in the process I found myself." - Rumi, 13th-century Persian poet and mystic. — Rahul Deokar

An astrolabe is relatively unknown in today's world. But, at the time, in the 13th century, it was the gadget of the day. It was the world's first popular computer. And it was a device that, in fact, is a model of the sky. — Tom Wujec

We are not in Afghanistan for the sake of the education policy in a broken 13th-century country. We are there so the people of Britain and our global interests are not threatened. — Liam Fox

I want to die on your chest but not yet she wrote sometime in the 13th century of our love — Michael Ondaatje

Did you know that Ethiopia might have fifteen-hundred rock churches? Most are carved ou of rock outcropping. Some date back to the 13th century. Even the locals have forgotten where they are all located. Some are in caves, in the ground, and on top of tabletop mountains like Debre Damo. If the falashas wanted to hide the Ark, they would have lots of choices that were more secure than the middle of Axum. — J.J. Gainer

The Law of Conservation of Apostrophes. A heresy since the 13th century, this law states that a balance exists in nature: "For every apostrophe omitted from an it's, there is an extra one put into an its." Thus the number of apostrophes in circulation remains constant, even if this means we have double the reason to go and bang our heads against a wall. — Lynne Truss

admiral. Technically, all admirals come from the Arabian desert, for the word can be traced to the title of Abu Bakr, who was called Amir-al-muminin, "commander of the faithful," before he succeeded Muhammad as caliph in 632. The title Amir, or "commander," became popular soon after, and naval chiefs were designated Amir-al-ma, "commander of commanders." Western seamen who came in contact with the Arabs assumed that Amir-al was one word, and believed this was a distinguished title. By the early 13th century, officers were calling themselves amiral, which merely means "commander of." The d was probably added to the word through a common mispronunciation. — Robert Hendrickson

The mighty edifice of Government science dominated the scene in the middle of the 20th century as a Gothic cathedral dominated a 13th century landscape. The work of many hands over many years, it universally inspired admiration, wonder and fear. — A. Hunter Dupree

When Peter renounced the world he grew up in and the people he grew up with, I believe it was exactly as heroic as that of a person who, finding himself prone to violent seasickness, renounces yachting. Hell, Pete was hardly 'in the world' in the first place. That was just the problem. He knew more about 13th century Sufi Orders and the Ptolemaic Universe than the rivers and hills and sewers and mills in southwestern Washington. — David James Duncan

When I was a boy in Desuq, Egypt, a city on the Rosetta branch of the Nile, about 50 miles east of Alexandria, my family lived steps away from the local landmark, a mosque named for a 13th-century Sufi sheik. — Ahmed Zewail

I do not have to look for credentials for my Polishness and for my patriotism. I'm a Pole. The chronicles of my family go back - as far back as the 13th century. — Wojciech Jaruzelski

I read Rumi, the 13th-century Persian poet, every day. — Mary Oliver

I wouldn't like to live in a castle now, but I'd enjoy a visit to Restormel in Cornwall in its 13th century prime. It's a circular castle with the rooms built against the outer walls and quite intimate in size. Life there wouldn't follow the pattern of more classic castle design. — Jo Beverley

Unlike the Tea Party, who see themselves as the customers of government, people in the Occupy Wall Street movement understand that we are the government. Stated most simply, we are trying to run a 21st-century society on a 13th-century economic operating system. It just doesn't work. — Douglas Rushkoff

From Roger Bacon, the 13th century Franciscan who pioneered the scientific method, to George Lemaitre, the 20th century Belgian priest who first developed a mathematical foundation for the 'Big Bang,' people of faith have played a key role in advancing scientific understanding. — Kenneth R. Miller

Through the 13th century, paintings of Angels exhibit a predominantly masculine appearance. Over the next 300 years, their images become more delicate, gentle, and feminine, until Angels are shown as androgynous or even distinctly female. — David Connolly

Inspiration comes from everything from the entire world, and it's hard to pinpoint one thing. I can trace one inspiration to the writing of 13th-century Zen master Dogen Zenji, who writes beautifully about time. — Ruth Ozeki

Footnoting references, signalling quotations, and so on were no part of a 13th-century scholar's duty. He could recycle his own and his predecessor's work without a qualm. He knew nothing of copyright and plagiarism, which are 17th-century inventions. — Fergus Kerr

Marriage is an ongoing, centuries-long social experiment that is mostly controlled by the individuals in the relationships who insist on determining what the relationship terms are going to be. And that's why the terms of marriage change with every century and decade. We're shaping it from the inside. Marriage endures because it evolves. Obviously it does. None of us would accept marriage on its 13th century terms, not even the most conservative people. — Elizabeth Gilbert

Furthermore, in the 13th/19th century philosophy began to see itself as a complete replacement for religion as one can see in the rise of the very idea of ideology at that time, a term used widely today even by Muslims who rarely realize the essentially secular and anti-religious character of the very concept of ideology which has gradually come to replace traditional religion in so many circles. — Seyyed Hossein Nasr