Isidore of Seville Quotes
Isidore of Seville was a Spanish bishop, encyclopedist, and the last of the Latin Fathers of the Church. Presiding over Visigothic Spain during the long transition from late antiquity to the early Middle Ages, he set himself the task of preserving the intellectual heritage of the classical world for future generations. The quotes below are attributed to Isidore of Seville, organized by topic.
Browse Isidore of Seville by topic
Isidore of Seville on Justice
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“Law will be honorable, just, possible, according to nature, according to the custom of the country, adapted to the place and time, necessary, useful, clear also, lest it contain anything in its obscurity that tends to fraud, drawn up for no one’s private advantage, but for the common good of all citizens.”
Bk. 5, ch. 21 ( Brehaut 1912 p.171 )
Isidore of Seville on Knowledge
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Attributed to Isidore of Seville:
“Reading is the food of the mind.”
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Attributed to Isidore of Seville:
“All knowledge consists in the knowledge of words and the things they signify.”
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Attributed to Isidore of Seville:
“He who is ignorant of letters is the poorer man.”
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Attributed to Isidore of Seville:
“Wisdom builds her house on seven pillars: the seven liberal arts.”
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“Litterae autem sunt indices rerum, signa verborum, quibus tanta vis est, ut nobis dicta absentium sine voce loquantur. [Verba enim per oculos non per aures introducunt.]”
Letters are signs of things, symbols of words, whose power is so great that without a voice they speak to us the words of the absent; for they introduce words by the eye, not by the ear. | Bk. 1, ch. 3. ( Latin , Brehaut 1912 p.96 ) -
“Bk. 1, ch. 3. ( Latin , Brehaut 1912 p.96 )”
Litterae autem sunt indices rerum, signa verborum, quibus tanta vis est, ut nobis dicta absentium sine voce loquantur. [Verba enim per oculos non per aures introducunt.] -
“Itaque sine Musica nulla disciplina potest esse perfecta, nihil enim sine illa. Nam et ipse mundus quadam harmonia sonorum fertur esse conpositus, et coelum ipsud sub harmoniae modulatione revolvi.”
And without music there can be no perfect knowledge, for there is nothing without it. For even the universe itself is said to have been put together with a certain harmony of sounds, and the very heavens revolve under the guidance of harmony. | Bk. 3, ch. 17. ( Latin , Brehaut 1912 p.137 ) -
“And without music there can be no perfect knowledge, for there is nothing without it. For even the universe itself is said to have been put together with a certain harmony of sounds, and the very heavens revolve under the guidance of harmony.”
Itaque sine Musica nulla disciplina potest esse perfecta, nihil enim sine illa. Nam et ipse mundus quadam harmonia sonorum fertur esse conpositus, et coelum ipsud sub harmoniae modulatione revolvi. -
“Bk. 3, ch. 17. ( Latin , Brehaut 1912 p.137 )”
Itaque sine Musica nulla disciplina potest esse perfecta, nihil enim sine illa. Nam et ipse mundus quadam harmonia sonorum fertur esse conpositus, et coelum ipsud sub harmoniae modulatione revolvi. -
“QVID SIT IVS GENTIVM. Ius gentium est sedium occupatio, aedificatio, munitio, bella, captivitates, servitutes, postliminia, foedera pacis, indutiae, legatorum non violandorum religio, conubia inter alienigenas prohibita. Et inde ius gentium, quia eo iure omnes fere gentes utuntur.”
Bk. 5, ch. 6. ( Latin ) -
“Bk. 5, ch. 6. ( Latin )”
QVID SIT IVS GENTIVM. Ius gentium est sedium occupatio, aedificatio, munitio, bella, captivitates, servitutes, postliminia, foedera pacis, indutiae, legatorum non violandorum religio, conubia inter alienigenas prohibita. Et inde ius gentium, quia eo iure omnes fere gentes utuntur. -
“Bk. 5, ch. 21 ( Brehaut 1912 p.171 )”
Law will be honorable, just, possible, according to nature, according to the custom of the country, adapted to the place and time, necessary, useful, clear also, lest it contain anything in its obscurity that tends to fraud, drawn up for no one’s private advantage, but for the common good of all citizens.
Isidore of Seville on Life
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“For brothers who pass from this life, before they are buried, a sacrifice should be offered to the Lord for the remission of their sins.”
Regula Monachorum | Regula Monachorum , 24,1. -
“On w:creation of life from clay (creation of life from earth).”
Etymologiae
Isidore of Seville on Nature
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“Homo is so named because he is made of humus (earth), as it is told in Genesis: “Et creavit Deus hominem de humo terrae.””
Etymologiae -
“Many creatures go through a natural change and by decay pass into different forms, as bees [are formed] by the decaying flesh of calves, as beetles from horses, locusts from mules, scorpions from crabs.”
Etymologiae
Isidore of Seville on Politics
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“Letters are signs of things, symbols of words, whose power is so great that without a voice they speak to us the words of the absent; for they introduce words by the eye, not by the ear.”
Litterae autem sunt indices rerum, signa verborum, quibus tanta vis est, ut nobis dicta absentium sine voce loquantur. [Verba enim per oculos non per aures introducunt.]
Isidore of Seville on Truth
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Attributed to Isidore of Seville:
“Etymology is the soul of the things named.”
Isidore of Seville on Virtue
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“Through idleness, lusts and harmful thoughts grow, but through the exercise of labor, vices are likewise diminished.”
Regula Monachorum | Regula Monachorum , 5,1. -
“A detected vice is quickly cured, but the hidden vice, the more it is concealed, the more deeply it creeps, for truly he who neglects to make it known does not wish to be cured at all.”
Regula Monachorum | Regula Monachorum , 13,5.