Conquests Quotes

“Conquests will come and go but Delambre's work will endure.”
― Napoleon Bonaparte

“I thought, gazing at the beauty of the landscape again, it is as though the fiend has prevailed against the angels, and fixed his throne in a heaven, to rule it as though it were Hell.”
― Tom Holland, Lord of the Dead

“Anna held up a small black-bound memorandum book. Cordelia hadn’t even seen her retrieve it. They strode out of the bedroom, Anna waving the book over her head in triumph. “This,” she announced, “will hold the answers to all our questions.”
Matthew looked up, his eyes fever-bright. “Is this your list of conquests?”
“Of course not,” Anna declared. “It’s a memorandum book… about my conquests. That is an important but meaningful distinction.”
Anna flipped through the book. There were many pages, and many names written in a bold, sprawling hand.
“Hmm, let me see. Katherine, Alicia, Virginia—a very promising writer, you should look out for her work, James—Mariane, Virna, Eugenia—”
“Not my sister Eugenia?” Thomas nearly upended his cake.
“Oh, probably not,” Anna said. “Laura, Lily… ah, Hypatia. Well, it was a brief encounter, and I suppose you might say she seduced me.…”
“Well, that hardly seems fair,” said James. “Like someone solving a case before Sherlock Holmes. If I were you I would feel challenged, as if to a duel.”
Matthew chuckled. Anna gave James a dark look. “I know what you’re trying to do,” she said.
“Is it working?” said James.
“Possibly,” said Anna, regarding the book. Cordelia couldn’t help but wonder: Was Ariadne’s name in there? Was she considered a conquest now, or something—someone—else?”
― Cassandra Clare, Chain of Gold

“Religious intolerance is an idea that found its earliest expression in the Old Testament, where the Hebrew tribe depicts itself waging a campaign of genocide on the Palestinian peoples to steal their land. They justified this heinous behavior on the grounds that people not chosen by their god were wicked and therefore did not deserve to live or keep their land. In effect, the wholesale slaughter of the Palestinian peoples, eradicating their race with the Jew's own Final Solution, was the direct result of a policy of religious superiority and divine right. Joshua 6-11 tells the sad tale, and one needs only read it and consider the point of view of the Palestinians who were simply defending their wives and children and the homes they had built and the fields they had labored for. The actions of the Hebrews can easily be compared with the American genocide of its native peoples - or even, ironically, the Nazi Holocaust.

With the radical advent of Christianity, this self-righteous intolerance was borrowed from the Jews, and a new twist was added. The conversion of infidels by any means possible became the newfound calling card of religious fervor, and this new experiment in human culture spread like wildfire. By its very nature, how could it not have? Islam followed suit, conquering half the world in brutal warfare and, much like its Christian counterpart, it developed a new and convenient survival characteristic: the destruction of all images and practices attributed to other religions. Muslims destroyed millions of statues and paintings in India and Africa, and forced conversion under pain of death (or by more subtle tricks: like taxing only non-Muslims), while the Catholic Church busily burned books along with pagans, shattering statues and defacing or destroying pagan art - or converting it to Christian use. Laws against pagan practices and heretics were in full force throughrout Europe by the sixth century, and as long as those laws were in place it was impossible for anyone to refuse the tenets of Christianity and expect to keep their property or their life. Similar persecution and harassment continues in Islamic countries even to this day, officially and unofficially.”
― Richard Carrier, Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism

“Either conquer the night, or become one of its conquests.”
― Abigail Biddinger

“The sovereignty of imagination is the foundation upon which all great conquests are built. By acknowledging and embracing this power, you will unlock the ability to devise cunning strategies and anticipate the actions of your adversaries. So, grant yourself permission to imagine the life you desire, and begin to sow the seeds of your future empire within the fertile soil of your mind.”
― Kevin L. Michel, Machiavellian Dreams: A Manual

“All the world by force of arms”
― Oda Nobunaga