“Are you not aware that all offerings whether great or small that are brought to the gods with piety have equal value, whereas without piety, I will not say hecatombs, but, by the gods, even the Olympian sacrifice of a thousand oxen is merely empty expenditure and nothing else?”

—  Julian (emperor)

"To the Cynic Heracleios" in The Works of the Emperor Julian (1913) edited by W. Heinemann, Vol II, p. 93
General sources

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Are you not aware that all offerings whether great or small that are brought to the gods with piety have equal value, w…" by Julian (emperor)?
Julian (emperor) photo
Julian (emperor) 97
Roman Emperor, philosopher and writer 331–363

Related quotes

Frithjof Schuon photo

“There is no valid virtue without piety, and there is no authentic piety without virtue.”

Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998) Swiss philosopher

[2013, From the Divine to the Human, World Wisdom, 70, 978-1-936597-32-1]
Spiritual path, Virtue

Bono photo

“Africa makes a mockery of what we say, at least what I say, about equality and questions our pieties and our commitments because there's no way to look at what's happening over there and it's effect on all of us and conclude that we actually consider Africans as our equals before God. There is no chance.”

Bono (1960) Irish rock musician, singer of U2

PENN Address (2004)

Desiderius Erasmus photo

“Whatever you see in the more material part of yourself, learn to refer to God and to the invisible part of yourself. In that way, whatever offers itself to the senses will become for you an occasion for the practice of piety.”

Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536) Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and theologian

The Erasmus Reader (1990), p. 141.
Handbook of the Christian Soldier (1503)

Oswald Chambers photo

“The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”

Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) British missionary
E.M. Forster photo

“Pathos, piety, courage, — they exist, but are identical, and so is filth. Everything exists, nothing has value.”

E.M. Forster book A Passage to India

Source: A Passage to India (1924), Ch. 14

“Having done these things, they made the sacrifices prescribed by custom lest they be found lacking in filial piety.”

Henry N. Beard book Latin for All Occasions

An all-purpose phony translation for Latin inscriptions.
Latin for All Occasions (1990)

Apuleius photo

“No word of reverence or piety, no utterance worthy of heaven and of the Gods of heaven, will be heard or believed.”

Apuleius (125–170) Berber prose writer in Latin

The Prophecy of Hermes Trismegistus

Emmanuel Levinas photo

“To ignore the true God is in fact only half an evil; atheism is worth more than the piety bestowed on mythical gods.”

Emmanuel Levinas (1906–1995) French philosopher

A Religion for Adults (1957)

Julian (emperor) photo

“I do not think I have wasted words to no purpose: the maxim, "Sacrifice to the immortal gods according to thy means," I accept as applying not merely to burnt-offerings, but also to our praises addressed unto the gods.”

Julian (emperor) (331–363) Roman Emperor, philosopher and writer

Upon the Sovereign Sun (362)
Context: Inasmuch as it is my wish only to compose a hymn of thanksgiving in honour of the god, I have deemed it quite sufficient to discourse to the best of my ability concerning his nature. I do not think I have wasted words to no purpose: the maxim, "Sacrifice to the immortal gods according to thy means," I accept as applying not merely to burnt-offerings, but also to our praises addressed unto the gods. I pray for the third time, in return for this my good intention, the Sun lord of the universe to be propitious to me, and to bestow on me a virtuous life, a more perfect understanding, and a superhuman intellect, and a very easy release from the trammels of life at the time appointed: and after that release, an ascension up to himself, and an abiding place with him, if possible, for all time to come; or if that be too great a recompense for my past life, many and long-continued revolutions around his presence!

M. S. Golwalkar photo

“Without dynamic conquering spirit, even devotion to a divine cause will be of little avail In this hard world which is an arena for trial of strength with brute forces, mere goodness or noble virtues will not hold the field for a single moment. That is why we find that in spite of all the piety, goodness and devotion to God all through the past thousand years, we were trampled under the feet by foreign aggressors who, though total strangers to goodness and virtue, had a passion for heroic action and organised effort.”

M. S. Golwalkar book Bunch of Thoughts

M.S. Golwalkar : ‘Bunch of Thoughts’, third edition, 1996, p. 92 Quoted from Talreja, K. M. (2000). Holy Vedas and holy Bible: A comparative study. New Delhi: Rashtriya Chetana Sangathan.
Bunch of Thoughts

Related topics