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Quote by Christine de Pizan

“I find it most offensive that the character of Reason, whom [Jean den Meun (author of the Romance of the Rose)] himself calls the daughter of God, should put forth such a statement as ... where she says by way of a proverb that "in the war of Love it is better to deceive than be deceived." And indeed I dare say that in making that statement Jean den Meun's Reason denied her Father, for the doctrine He gave was altogether different.”

Quote by Christine de Pizan

Work

Le Débat Sur Le Roman De La Rose

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Author

Christine de Pizan
Christine de Pizan

Christine de Pizan was a renowned French author, considered one of the most outstanding female writers of the Middle Ages. Born in 1364 and died in 1430, her works covered various fields, including philosophy, history, and literature. more

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“We say 'everyone is entitled to his beliefs', recognising the nastiness of a world which will not tolerate alternative beliefs, but over-looking the fact that some beliefs are nonsense and deserve to be called prejudice, bigotry or superstition rather than merely belief. But as Pascal knew, our prejudices do not respond to reason alone. It is as though all the proofs and evidence of philosophy had mistaken their rationality for how people actually think.”

“I think that what we mean in practice by reason can be defined by three characteristics. In the first place, it relies upon persuasion rather than force; in the second place, it seeks to persuade by means of arguments which the man who uses them believes to be completely valid; and in the third place, in forming opinions, it uses observation and induction as much as possible and intuition as little as possible. The first of these rules out the Inquisition; the second rules out such methods as those of British war propaganda, which Hitler praises on the ground that propaganda “must sink its mental elevation deeper in proportion to the numbers of the mass whom it has to grip”; the third forbids the use of such a major premise as that of President Andrew Jackson a propos of the Mississippi, “the God of the Universe intended this great valley to belong to one nation,” which was self-evident to him and his hearers, but not easily demonstrated to one who questioned it.”