“The literature of India makes us acquainted with a great nation of past ages, which grasped every branch of knowledge, and which will always occupy a distinguished place in the history of the civilization of mankind.”

—  Magnus Björnstjerna

Source: Count Magnus Fredrik Ferdinand Bjornstjerna in: The Theogony of the Hindoos with Their System of Philosophy and Cosmogony by Count M. Björnstjerna https://books.google.co.in/books?id=mHNK92IkdUkC&pg=PA85, Murray, 1844 , p. 85.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Dec. 27, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The literature of India makes us acquainted with a great nation of past ages, which grasped every branch of knowledge, …" by Magnus Björnstjerna?
Magnus Björnstjerna photo
Magnus Björnstjerna 2
Swedish count and general (1779-1847) 1779–1847

Related quotes

Arthur Llewellyn Basham photo

“The age in which true history appeared in India was one of great intellectual and spiritual ferment.”

Arthur Llewellyn Basham (1914–1986) British historian and Indologist

The Wonder that was India (1954).
Context: The age in which true history appeared in India was one of great intellectual and spiritual ferment. Mystics and sophists of all kinds roamed through the Ganga Valley, all advocating some form of mental discipline and asceticism as a means to salvation; but the age of the Buddha, when many of the best minds were abandoning their homes and professions for a life of asceticism, was also a time of advance in commerce and politics. It produced not only philosophers and ascetics, but also merchant princes and men of action.

Al-Biruni photo

“The best foreign account of India that this age produced was written by Abu Rlhan, better known as Alberuni, a contemporary of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. While the ruthless conqueror was harrying India by fire and sword, destroying and plundering its cities and temples, the great Arabic scholar engaged himself in studying the culture and civilization of the country. He learned Sanskrit and studied its different branches of literature. The bulky volume which he wrote is in many respects the most rational and comprehensive account of India ever written by a foreigner until modern times. He is singularly free from religious enthusiasm, bordering on fanaticism, and the racial superiority-complex which mark the Muslim writings of the age. He patiently laboured to acquire knowledge of Indian society and culture in a laudabile spirit of quest for truth, and brought to his task a liberal and rational mind enriched by profound knowledge, remarkable for his age.”

Al-Biruni (973–1048) Persian scholar and polymath

The History and Culture of the Indian People: The Vedic age, ed. R.C. Majumdar https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.110240/2015.110240.The-Vedic-Age-Vol1_djvu.txt

Henry Thomas Buckle photo

“Our knowledge is composed not of facts, but of the relations which facts and ideas bear to themselves and to each other; and real knowledge consists not in an acquaintance with facts, which only makes a pedant, but in the use of facts, which makes a philosopher.”

Henry Thomas Buckle (1821–1862) English historian

" The Influence Of Women On The Progress Of Knowledge http://www.public.coe.edu/~theller/soj/u-rel/buckle.html". Lecture given at the Royal Institution 19 March 1858. In: The Miscellaneous and Posthumous Works of Henry Thomas Buckle (1872)

Max Müller photo

“If history is to teach us anything, it must teach us that there is a continuity which binds together the present and the past, the East and the West. And no branch of history teaches that lesson more powerfully than the history of language and the history of religion.”

Max Müller (1823–1900) German-born philologist and orientalist
Walter Raleigh (professor) photo

“The sense of liberty and power, and of belief in the capacity and destiny of man, which was quickened by the new discoveries, distinguishes the literature of the Elizabethan age from the great backward-looking periods of romance. It is a literature of youth and hope, with none of the subtle and poignant flavours that are to be tasted in a literature of regret and memory.”

Walter Raleigh (professor) (1861–1922) British academic

p. 174 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=yale.39002032470974;view=1up;seq=190
English Voyages of the Sixteenth Century (1906)

James Clerk Maxwell photo

“In every branch of knowledge the progress is proportional to the amount of facts on which to build”

James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) Scottish physicist

Letter to Lewis Campbell (9 November 1851) in Ch. 6 : Undergraduate Life At Cambridge October 1850 to January 1854 — ÆT. 19-22, p. 159
The Life of James Clerk Maxwell (1882)
Context: In every branch of knowledge the progress is proportional to the amount of facts on which to build, and therefore to the facility of obtaining data.

Edmund Burke photo

“Circumstances (which with some gentlemen pass for nothing) give in reality to every political principle its distinguishing colour, and discriminating effect. The circumstances are what render every civil and political scheme beneficial or noxious to mankind.”

Edmund Burke book Reflections on the Revolution in France

Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed photo

“One of the great sons of Assam and India. His contribution to the Indian freedom struggle was invaluable. A firm believer in the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, he left an indelible imprint on the political landscape of our great nation. His long and distinguished career in public life, which culminated in his occupying the august position of President of India is a shining example of commitment to ethical values and selfless service to the people. Indeed, his contribution to the building of our society and country continues inspiring all of us.”

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905–1977) the fifth President of India and a politician

Manmohan Singh in: PM's Speech on Presentation of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Memorial Award 2008 & 2009 and Unveiling of Plaque of Jica Assisted Water Supply Project for Guwahati City http://www.pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=69905, Prime Minister's Office, 8-February, 2011

Mary McCarthy photo

“Every age has a keyhole to which its eye is pasted.”

Mary McCarthy (1912–1989) American writer

"My Confession", p. 74. First published in two parts in The Reporter (December 22, 1953 and January 5, 1954)
On the Contrary: Articles of Belief 1946–1961 (1961)

Adam Smith photo

“We are delighted to find a person who values us as we value ourselves, and distinguishes us from the rest of mankind, with an attention not unlike that with which we distinguish ourselves.”

Adam Smith book The Theory of Moral Sentiments

Section III, Chap. I.
The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), Part II

Related topics