Yes, and if oxen and horses or lions had hands, and could paint with their hands, and produce works of art as men do, horses would paint the forms of the gods like horses, and oxen like oxen, and make their bodies in the image of their several kinds.
Xenophanes of Colophon (c. 570 – c. 479 BC) Greek philosopher, poet
Fragments, (Silloi/Satires) fr. 15 [tr. Burnet (1908)]
(Source)
Noted in Burnet as frag 15, RP 100. The original Greek can be seen here and here (I was unable to find a copyable version).
Other translations:But had the oxen or the lions hands,
Or could with hands depict a work like men,
Were beasts to draw the semblance of the gods,
The horses would them like to horses sketch,
To oxen, oxen, and their bodies make
Of such a shape as to themselves belongs.
[tr. Roberts/Donaldson (1885)]Yes, and if oxen or lions had hands, and could paint with their hands and produce works of art as men do, horses would paint the forms of the gods like horses, and oxen like oxen. Each would represent them with bodies according to the form of each.
[tr. Burnet (1892); frag 6 (RP 83)]But if cattle or lions had hands, so as to paint with their hands and produce works of art as men do, they would paint their gods and give them bodies in form hke their own — horses like horses, cattle like cattle. [tr. Fairbanks (1898)]But if horses or oxen or lions had hands
or could draw with their hands and accomplish such works as men,
horses would draw the figures of the gods as similar to horses, and the oxen as similar to oxen,
and they would make the bodies
of the sort which each of them had.
[tr. Lesher (1992); fr. 15; Clement 5.110]If oxen and horses and lions had hands and were able to draw with their hands and do the same things as men, horses would draw the shapes of gods to look like horses and oxen to look like oxen, and each would make the gods’ bodies have the same shape as they themselves had.
[tr. McKirahan (1995)]But if cattle[, horses,] or lions had hands,
or were to write/draw with hands and to complete deeds, such as men [do],
on the one hand, horses like horses and, on the other hand, cattle [like] cattle,
would draw [the] forms of [the] gods and would make bodies (σώµατ᾽)
of such sorts as [the] sort of bodily frame (δέµας) they themselves also have.
[Source; fr B15]
Quotations about:
image of God
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
This simply means that there is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies. When we look beneath the surface, beneath the impulsive evil deed, we see within our enemy-neighbor a measure of goodness and know that the viciousness and evilness of his acts are not quite representative of all that he is. We see him in a new light. We recognize that his hate grows out of fear, pride, ignorance, prejudice, and misunderstanding, but in spite of this, we know God’s image is ineffably etched in being. Then we love our enemies by realizing that they are not totally bad and that they are not beyond the reach of God’s redemptive love.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Loving Your Enemies,” Sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery (25 Dec 1957)
(Source)
If I thought of man as the final image of God, I should not know what to think of God. But when I consider that our ancestors, at a time fairly recent in relation to the earth’s history, were perfectly ordinary apes, closely related to chimpanzees, I see a glimmer of hope. It does not require very great optimism to assume that from us human beings something better and higher may evolve. Far from seeing in man the irrevocable and unsurpassable image of God, I assert — more modestly and, I believe, in greater awe of the Creation and its infinite possibilities — that the long-sought missing link between animals and the really humane being is ourselves!
Konrad Lorenz (1903–1989) Austrian zoologist, ethologist, ornithologist
On Aggression, ch. 12 “On the Virtue of Scientific Humility” (1963)
(Source)
Geometry is one and eternal shining in the mind of God. That share in it accorded to humans is one of the reasons that humanity is the image of God.
Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) German astronomer
The Harmonies of the World [Harmonices Mundi], Book 3, ch. 1 (1618)
Other translations:
- "Geometry, co-eternal with God and shining in the divine Mind, gave God the pattern ... by which he laid out the world so that it might be best and most beautiful and finally most like the Creator."
- "Geometry is one and eternal shining in the mind of God. That share in it accorded to men is one of the reasons that Man is the image of God."
A good End cannot sanctifie evil Means; nor must we ever do Evil, that Good may come of it. Some Folks think they may Scold, Rail, Hate, Rob and Kill too; so it be but for God’s sake. But nothing in us unlike him, can please him.
William Penn (1644–1718) English writer, philosopher, politician, statesman
Fruits of Solitude, #537-539 (1682)
(Source)
