Bartolome de Las Casas Quotes on Knowledge
Bartolome de Las Casas was a Spanish Dominican friar, bishop of Chiapas in New Spain, and the most outspoken sixteenth-century defender of the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. This page collects quotes attributed to Bartolome de Las Casas on the topic of knowledge, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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“Men, from their early years, are reared in the midst of goods of the body and senses, the source of corrupt behavior, and, because they constantly deal with them, know them better. But spiritual things, the goods of reason, and things intellectual, which are far removed from the senses, they do not know as well. Because they understand and are always dealing with material things, but spiritual things are not so readily evident, it happens that men, for the most part, are plunged into sinful conduct.”
p. 37 -
“And never have the Indians in all the Indies committed any act against the Spanish Christians, until those Christians have first and many times committed countless cruel aggressions against them or against neighboring nations.”
Wikiquote -
“After the wars and the killings had ended, when usually there survived only some boys, some women, and children, these survivors were distributed among the Christians to be slaves.”
Wikiquote -
“The Indians were totally deprived of their freedom and were put into the harshest, fiercest, most horrible servitude and captivity which no one who has not seen it can understand. Even beasts enjoy more freedom when they are allowed to graze in the field.”
History of the Indies(1561)