Valentinus Quotes & Sayings

Good politicians know when to move on, sooner or later. — Richard Brookhiser

In her, as an Alexandrian, licence was in a curious way a form of self-abnegation, a travesty of freedom; and if I saw her as an exemplar of the city it was not of Alexandria, or Plotinus that I was forced to think, but of the sad thirtieth child of Valentinus who fell, 'not like Lucifer by rebelling against God, but by desiring too ardently to be united to him'.* — Lawrence Durrell

When a scientist says something, his colleagues must ask themselves only whether it is true. When a politician says something, his colleagues must first of all ask, 'Why does he say it? — Leo Szilard

Spontaneously, without any theological training, I, a child, grasped the incompatibility of God and shit and thus came to question the basic thesis of Christian anthropology, namely that man was created in God's image. Either/or: either man was created in God's image - and has intestines! - or God lacks intestines and man is not like him.
The ancient Gnostics felt as I did at the age of five. In the second century, the Great Gnostic master Valentinus resolved the damnable dilemma by claiming that Jesus "ate and drank, but did not defecate."
Shit is a more onerous theological problem than is evil. Since God gave man freedom, we can, if need be, accept the idea that He is not responsible for man's crimes. The responsibility for shit, however, rests entirely with Him, the creator of man. — Milan Kundera

Prior to Valentinus, those who follow Valentinus had no existence. Nor did those from Marcion exist before Marcion. Nor, in short, did any of those malignant-minded people, whom I have listed above, have any existence previous to the initiators and inventors of their perversity. — Irenaeus Of Lyons

What I set seems to never extinguish — Drake

Loosen the bonds of avarice from your hands and neck. — Rumi

But owning the pain, running through it, overcoming it, was a matter of self-will and discipline. — Sandra Brown

Happiness is so rare that our mind can turn somersaults to protect it. — David Henry Hwang

Being a vegetarian Buddhist would be a bit harsh to deal with in the kitchen, so I'm a Taoist, I study martial arts, and I don't drink or smoke. — Arthur Potts Dawson

I'm an ordinary Hackney boy, and I can talk to people. — Asif Kapadia

These romantic visions of the peasantry were constantly undone by contact with reality, often with devastating consequences for their bearers. The populists, who invested much of themselves in their conception of the peasants, suffered the most in this respect, since the disintegration of that conception threatened to undermine not only their radical beliefs but also their own self-identity. — Orlando Figes

We're still just the world's premium brand of ape. — Rick Bayan