John of Salisbury Quotes
John of Salisbury was an English humanist scholar, secretary to two archbishops of Canterbury including the martyred Thomas Becket, and finally bishop of Chartres. After studies under Abelard and Gilbert of Poitiers in the schools of Paris and Chartres, he produced the Policraticus, the first medieval Latin treatise of political philosophy in the West, and the Metalogicon, a spirited defense of the trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric against contemporary obscurantism. The quotes below are attributed to John of Salisbury, organized by topic.
John of Salisbury on Knowledge
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Attributed to John of Salisbury:
“We are dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants.”
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Attributed to John of Salisbury:
“Words without learning are mere noise.”
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Attributed to John of Salisbury:
“The school of life is wider than any university.”
John of Salisbury on Politics
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Attributed to John of Salisbury:
“A republic is a body whose head is the prince and whose soul is religion.”
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Attributed to John of Salisbury:
“Tyranny begins when the prince serves himself rather than the laws.”