A quotation by Virgil

But I’d sooner have the depths of earth gape open,

and almighty Father hurl me down to Hades

with his bolt, to the pallid shades and inky night,

before I disobey my conscience or its laws.

[Sed mihi vel tellus optem prius ima dehiscat

Vel pater omnipotens adigat me fulmine ad umbras,

Pallentis umbras Erebo noctemque profundam,

Ante, pudor, quam te violo aut tua iura resolvo.]

Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]

The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 4, l. 24ff (4.24-29) [Dido] (29-19 BC) [tr. Bartsch (2021)]

#quote #quotation #curse #damnation #destruction #divine-punishment #divine-retribution #loyalty #oath #widow

More notes and sourcing on WIST: https://wist.info/virgil/53546/

WIST - Virgil | The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 4, l. 24ff (4.24-29) [Dido] (29-19 BC) [tr. Bartsch (2021)]

But I'd sooner have the depths of earth gape open, and almighty Father hurl me down to Hades with his bolt, to the pallid shades and inky night, before I disobey my conscience or its laws. [Sed mihi vel tellus optem prius ima dehiscat Vel pater...

A quotation by Asimov, Isaac

Once, when a religionist denounced me in unmeasured terms, I sent him a card saying, “I am sure you believe that I will go to hell when I die, and that once there I will suffer all the pains and tortures the sadistic ingenuity of your deity can devise and that this torture will continue forever. Isn’t that enough for you? Do you have to call me bad names in addition?”

Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) Russian-American author, polymath, biochemist

I, Asimov, ch. 73 “Letters” (1979)

#quotation #quote #afterlife #atheist #damnation #divine-punishment #hell #incivility #insult

More notes and sourcing on WIST: https://wist.info/asimov-isaac/48469/

WIST - Asimov, Isaac | I, Asimov, ch. 73 "Letters" (1979)

Once, when a religionist denounced me in unmeasured terms, I sent him a card saying, "I am sure you believe that I will go to hell when I die, and that once there I will suffer all the pains and tortures the sadistic ingenuity of your deity can...