Hildegard of Bingen Quotes on Knowledge
Hildegard of Bingen was a German Benedictine abbess, polymath, and one of the most important religious figures of the twelfth century. This page collects quotes attributed to Hildegard of Bingen on the topic of knowledge, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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Attributed to Hildegard of Bingen:
“Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars. Gaze at the beauty of earth's greenings. Now, think.”
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“Letter to Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, 1146-47”
O venerable father Bernard, I lay my claim before you, for, highly honored by God, you bring fear to the immoral foolishness of this world and, in your intense zeal and burning love for the Son of God, gather men [cf. Luke 5.10] into Christ's army to fight under the banner of the cross against pagan savagery. I beseech you in the name of the Living God to give heed to my queries. -
“Letter to Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, 1146-47”
Father, I am greatly disturbed by a vision which has appeared to me through divine revelation, a vision seen not with my fleshly eyes but only in my spirit. Wretched, and indeed more than wretched in my womanly condition, I have from earliest childhood seen great marvels which my tongue has no power to express but which the Spirit of God has taught me that I may believe." Steadfast and gentle fath -
“Letter to the Monk Guibert, 1176”
Now, O son of God, set in the valley of true humility, walk in peace without pride of spirit, which, like a precipitous mountain, offers a difficult, or near-impossible, ascent or descent to those who attempt to scale it, and on its summit no building can be built. For a person who tries to climb higher than he can achieve possesses the name of sanctity without substance, because, in name alone wi -
“O dawn, you washed them away in a woman who was clean. O form of woman, sister of Wisdom, how great is your glory! For in you there rose a life unquenchable that death shall never stifle. Wisdom exalted you to make all creatures fairer in your beauty than they were when the world was born.”
Ad Vitam S. Ruperti Epilogus 6, Pitra 364. -
“Ad Vitam S. Ruperti Epilogus 6, Pitra 364.”
O dawn, you washed them away in a woman who was clean. O form of woman, sister of Wisdom, how great is your glory! For in you there rose a life unquenchable that death shall never stifle. Wisdom exalted you to make all creatures fairer in your beauty than they were when the world was born.