Gerald of Wales > Quotes

“For human nature is so made that only what is unusual and infrequent excites wonder or is regarded as of value. We make no wonder of the rising and the setting of the sun which we see every day; and yet there is nothing in the universe more beautiful, or worthy of wonder. When, however, an eclipse of the sun takes place, everyone is amazed - because it happens rarely.”
― Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland

“Beavers build their castle-like lodges in the middle of rivers. They have an extraordinary method of conveying and carting timber from the woods to the water, for they use other beavers as waggons. The beavers of one team309 gnaw down the branches, and then another group has the instinct to turn over on their backs and to hold this wood tightly against their bellies with their four feet. Each of these last grips a branch in its teeth which sticks out on either side. A third group holds tightly on to this cross-branch with its teeth and pulls the animal in question along backwards together with its load. Anyone who witnesses this manoeuvre cannot fail to be impressed.”
― Gerald of Wales, The Journey Through Wales & The Description of Wales

“Whatever else may come to pass, I do not think that on the Day of Direst Judgement any race other than the Welsh, or any other language, will give answer to the Supreme Judge of all from this small corner of the earth.”
― Gerald of Wales, The Journey Through Wales / The Description of Wales

“Conquest of Ireland,”
― Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland

“According to the British History,{96} Aurelius Ambrosius, king of Britain, caused these stones to be transported from Ireland to Britain by the divine aid of Merlin; and in order to leave some memorial of so great a deed, they were erected on the spot where, before that time, the flower of the youth of Britain died by the concealed knives of the Saxons, who fell upon them and slew them, under the guise of peace, with their treacherous weapons.”
― Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland

“From Him it is that we exist, and are intelligent beings, as from the source from which all intellect flows, as the stream from its fountain. Since then human nature is so much inferior and less worthy than the angelical, tell us, O man, with what face, with what temerity thou presumest to scrutinize and trace out those mysteries, to the investigation of which the very angels esteem themselves wholly incompetent?”
― Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland

“In process of time, as fortune changed, and according to wont caused many disasters, Slanius alone obtained the monarchy of the whole of Ireland. Hence he is called the first king of Ireland. He first reunited the five portions of Meath, and forming them into one province, appropriated the whole of Meath to the royal table.”
― Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland

“They are likewise called Gaideli, and also Scots. Ancient histories relate that one Gaidelus, a grandson son of Phaenius,{150} after the confusion of tongues at the tower of Nimrod, was deeply skilled in various languages. On account of this skill, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, gave him his daughter Scota for wife. Since, therefore, the Irish, as they say, derive their original lineage from these two, Gaidelus and Scota, as they were born, so are they called Gaideli and Scots.”
― Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland

“This little work is like a highly polished mirror. In it I have portrayed the pathless places which we trod, named each mountain torrent and each purling spring, recorded the witty things we said, set down the hazards of our journey and our various travails, included an account of such noteworthy events as occurred in those parts, some in our own times, others long ago, with much natural description and remarkable excursions into natural history, adding at the end a word-picture of the country itself.”
― Gerald of Wales, The Journey Through Wales & The Description of Wales

“What shall they answer who seize other men’s goods, and have then given it away in alms? They will say: ‘O Lord! In thy name we have done charitable deeds, we have fed the poor, we have clothed the naked, we have received the stranger at our gate.’ The Lord will answer: ‘You speak of what you have given away, but you do not mention the fact that you have stolen it in the first place. You are mindful of those whom you have fed, but you have forgotten those whom you have destroyed.”
― Gerald of Wales, The Journey Through Wales & The Description of Wales

“In ancient times there was in Ireland a remarkable pile of stones, called the Giants' Dance,{95} because the giants brought it from the furthest parts of Africa into Ireland, and set it up, partly by main strength, partly by artificial contrivances, in an extraordinary way, on the plains of Kildare, near Naas.”
― Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland

“According to some statements, the Irish (Hibernienses) derived their name from the aforesaid Heber; or rather, according to others, they were so named from the Hiberus (the Ebro), a river in Spain.”
― Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland

“Among all the miracles in Kildare, none appears to me more wonderful than th marvellous book which they say was written in the time of the Virgin [ie. St. Bridgit] at the dictation of an angel. It contains the Four Gospels according to St. Jerome, and almost every page is illustrated by drawings illuminated with a variety of brilliant colours. In one page you see the countenance of the Divine Majesty supernaturally pictured; in another, the mystic forms of the evangelists, with either six, four, or two wings: here are depicted the eagle, there the calf; here the face of man, there of a lion; with other figures in almost endless variety. If you observe them superficially, and in the usual careless manner, you would imagine them to be daubs, rather than careful compositions; expecting to find nothing exquisite. But if you apply yourself to a more close examination, and are able to penetrate the secrets of the art displayed in these pictures, you will find them so delicate and exquisite, so finely drawn, and the work of interlacing so elaborate, while the colours with which they are illuminated are so blended, and still so fresh, that you will be ready to assert that all this is the work of angelic, and not human skill.”
― Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland

“It appears to me very remarkable, and deserving of notice, that, as in the present life the people of this nation are beyond all others irascible and prompt to revenge, so also in the life that is after death, the saints of this country, exalted by their merits above those of other lands, appear to be of a vindictive temper.”
― Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland

“For he seldom fails who is not wanting to himself; while those who depend upon the assistance of others, appear very often to fall short of their aims.”
― Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland

“It may be alleged, indeed, in favor of contrary opinions, that in Bede's time there were possibly some few vineyards in Ireland, and that St. Dominic of Ossory, as some say, introduced bees there long after the times of Solinus.”
― Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland

“On his own admission, Gerald was an extremely handsome man.95 He had known Baldwin for a number of years and the Archbishop was very fond of him.96 His conversation was brilliant and he must have been a gay travelling-companion. He was intrigued by every place they visited, and familiar with quite a few of them. His personal enthusiasms seem to have had no limit: local history, local topography, folklore, animals of all sorts, clothing, language, weapons and warfare, religious houses, food, weather, demoniacal possession, mountain scenery, forests covered by the sea, silver mines, quicksands, genealogies, music.”
― Gerald of Wales, The Journey Through Wales & The Description of Wales

“This is proved by the affinity of the two nations in language and habits, in arms as well as in customs, even to the present day.”
― Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland