Quotes from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

“If the portraits of our absent friends are pleasant to us, which renew our memory of them and relieve our regret for their absence by a false and empty consolation, how much more pleasant are letters which bring us the written characters of the absent friend.”
― Héloïse d'Argenteuil, quote from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

“Against the disease of writing one must take special precautions, since it is a dangerous and contagious disease.”
― Héloïse d'Argenteuil, quote from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

“Would that thy love, beloved, had less trust in me, that it might be more anxious!”
― Héloïse d'Argenteuil, quote from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

“[I]t is not by being richer or more powerful that a man becomes better; one is a matter of fortune, the other of virtue. Nor should she deem herself other than venal who weds a rich man rather than a poor, and desires more things in her husband than himself. Assuredly, whomsoever this concupiscence leads into marriage deserves payment rather than affection.”
― Héloïse d'Argenteuil, quote from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

“God knows I never sought anything in you except yourself. I wanted simply you, nothing of yours.”
― Héloïse d'Argenteuil, quote from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

“[I]f the name of wife appears more sacred and more valid, sweeter to me is ever the word friend, or, if thou be not ashamed, concubine ... And thou thyself wert not wholly unmindful of that ... [as in the narrative of thy misfortunes] thou hast not disdained to set forth sundry reasons by which I tried to dissuade thee from our marriage, from an ill-starred bed; but wert silent as to many, in which I preferred love to wedlock, freedom to a bond. I call God to witness, if Augustus, ruling over the whole world, were to deem me worthy of the honour of marriage, and to confirm the whole world to me, to be ruled by me forever, dearer to me and of greater dignity would it seem to be called thy concubine than his empress.”
― Héloïse d'Argenteuil, quote from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

“Let me have a faithful account of all that concerns you; I would know everything, be it ever so unfortunate. Perhaps by mingling my sighs with yours I may make your sufferings less, for it is said that all sorrows divided are made lighter.”
― Héloïse d'Argenteuil, quote from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

“[A]s though mindful of the wife of Lot, who looked back from behind him, thou deliveredst me first to the sacred garments and monastic profession before thou gavest thyself to God. And for that in this one thing thou shouldst have had little trust in me I vehemently grieved and was ashamed. For I (God [knows]) would without hesitation precede or follow thee to the Vulcanian fires according to thy word. For not with me was my heart, but with thee. But now, more than ever, if it be not with thee, it is nowhere. For without thee it cannot anywhere exist.”
― Héloïse d'Argenteuil, quote from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

“If there is anything that may properly be called happiness here below, I am persuaded it is the union of two persons who love each other with perfect liberty, who are united by a secret inclination, and satisfied with each other's merits. Their hearts are full and leave no vacancy for any other passion; they enjoy perpetual tranquillity because they enjoy content.”
― Héloïse d'Argenteuil, quote from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

“Everyone wishes to be saved, but few will use those means which religion prescribes.”
― Héloïse d'Argenteuil, quote from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

“Strive now to unite in yourself all the virtues of these different examples. Have the purity of virgins, the austerity of anchorites, the zeal of pastors and bishops, and the constancy of martyrs.”
― Héloïse d'Argenteuil, quote from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

“we are much fonder of the pictures of those we love, when they are at a great distance, than when they are near to us.”
― Héloïse d'Argenteuil, quote from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

“It is always some consolation in sorrow to feel that it is shared, and any burden laid on several is carried more lightly or removed.”
― Héloïse d'Argenteuil, quote from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

“If there is anything that may properly”
― Héloïse d'Argenteuil, quote from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

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“I wouldn’t,” said the Luidaeg. “Love is love. It’s rarer in Faerie than it used to be—rarer than it should be, if you ask me. If you can find it, you should cling to it, and never let anything interfere. Besides, he has a nice ass.” Her lips quirked in a weirdly mischievous smile. “I mean, damn. Some people shouldn’t be allowed to wear leather pants. He’s one of them. He’s a clear and present danger when he puts those things on. Or takes them off.”
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“This was charming, no doubt; but they shortly found out That the Captain they trusted so well Had only one notion for crossing the ocean, And that was to tingle his bell.”
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“So again and again we see how under the prevailing paradigm our real past—and the original thrust of our cultural evolution—can only be seen as through a glass darkly. But once we are face to face with the full import of what this past foreshadowed—what we, at our level of technological and social development, could have been and still can be—we confront a haunting question. What brought about the radical change in cultural direction, the shift that plunged us from a social order upheld by the Chalice to one dominated by the Blade? When and how did this happen? And what does this cataclysmic change tell us about our past—and our future?”
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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

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