Quotes About The Aztec
1. "The Spaniards gave beasts of burden to relieve the natives of
drudgery... meat to eat which they lacked before. The Spaniards showed
them the use of iron and oil lamps to improve their ways of living....
They taught them Latin and other subjects which are worth a lot more
than all the silver taken from them... it was to their benefit to be
conquered and, even more, to become Christians" Francisco López de Gómara, chaplain and secretary to Hernán Cortés (quoted in ‘The Clash of Cultures’ by Brian Catchpole)
2. "Today we are at last beginning to understand the intricacies of this amazing culture, which was the equal of any in Europe in moral refinement, artistic sensibility, social complexity, and political organization" J. Jorge Klor de Alva (Foreword to ‘The Broken Spears’)
3. "Why are violence and the sacred so intertwined? Why is death seen as necessary to renew life? ... To us the Aztec universe may appear irrational, terrifying, murderous in its brutality; and yet it is a mirror held up to our humanity which we ignore at our cost. For in the name of other ideals and other gods Western culture has been no less addicted to killing, even in our own century." Michael Wood (‘In Search of the First Civilizations’)
2. "Today we are at last beginning to understand the intricacies of this amazing culture, which was the equal of any in Europe in moral refinement, artistic sensibility, social complexity, and political organization" J. Jorge Klor de Alva (Foreword to ‘The Broken Spears’)
3. "Why are violence and the sacred so intertwined? Why is death seen as necessary to renew life? ... To us the Aztec universe may appear irrational, terrifying, murderous in its brutality; and yet it is a mirror held up to our humanity which we ignore at our cost. For in the name of other ideals and other gods Western culture has been no less addicted to killing, even in our own century." Michael Wood (‘In Search of the First Civilizations’)