Averroes Quotes
Averroes, known in Arabic as Ibn Rushd, was a 12th-century Andalusian Arab philosopher, jurist, and physician of the Islamic Golden Age, the most influential medieval commentator on Aristotle. Born in Cordoba and serving as judge in Seville and Cordoba and as physician to the Almohad caliphs, he produced extensive commentaries on Aristotle's works that became the principal medium through which Aristotle was transmitted to the Latin West. The quotes below are attributed to Averroes, organized by topic.
Averroes on God
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Attributed to Averroes:
“If reason and revelation appear to disagree, it is the surface meaning of the revealed text that must be reinterpreted.”
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Attributed to Averroes:
“Philosophy is the friend and milk-sister of religion.”
Averroes on Knowledge
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Attributed to Averroes:
“Knowledge is the conformity of the object and the intellect.”
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Attributed to Averroes:
“The intellect is no other than the perception of things by their causes.”
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Attributed to Averroes:
“Ignorance leads to fear, fear leads to hatred, and hatred leads to violence.”
Averroes on Truth
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Attributed to Averroes:
“Truth does not contradict truth.”