Theodore Metochites Quotes
Theodore Metochites was a Byzantine philosopher, theologian, statesman, and poet of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century, the prime minister of the emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos, and the principal patron of the Chora monastery in Constantinople, whose mosaics he commissioned. His Semeioseis Gnomikai, a long collection of philosophical and historical essays, set out a sustained engagement with Plato, Aristotle, and the late antique commentators against the rising current of monastic anti-rationalism in Byzantium. The quotes below are attributed to Theodore Metochites, organized by topic.
Theodore Metochites on Knowledge
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Attributed to Theodore Metochites:
“Plato is the greater philosopher; Aristotle is the more useful guide.”
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Attributed to Theodore Metochites:
“He who has read all the philosophers and remained unchanged has read none of them.”
Theodore Metochites on Nature
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Attributed to Theodore Metochites:
“Astronomy lifts the soul to where its proper home has always been.”
Theodore Metochites on Politics
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Attributed to Theodore Metochites:
“The state is held together by letters as much as by arms.”
Theodore Metochites on Virtue
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Attributed to Theodore Metochites:
“The fall of fortune is the proof of philosophy, not its refutation.”