The Templar Legacy Quotes

“Say it, do it, preach it, shout it, but never, absolutely never, believe your own bullshit.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“All of us bear God’s image, all are worthy to be loved, all can grow in the spirit of God.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“A man can accomplish much when the woman he loves supports him, even if she believes that what he does is foolishness.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“None of us should judge anyone, only ourselves. Life is not infinite. A set time defines us all—then, just as the bones in the ossuary showed, to dust we return.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“The French town of Rennes-le-Château is crucial to the story. What makes this place so mysterious? SB: Rennes is located in the Languedoc, an unspoiled region of southern France. There are many mysteries surrounding this village that link it with everything from the Holy Grail to Noah’s Ark, from the Ark of the Covenant to the treasures of the Temple of Solomon.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“Their 686 rules, though, are a fascinating read. Obedience was paramount.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“Finally, on March 19, 1314, the last master, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake. De Molay is said to have cursed Philip and Pope Clement as he burned, asking both men to join him in death within a year. Whether he actually uttered the curse or if it’s simply an apocryphal tale, we may never know. What’s for certain is this: Clement died one month later and Philip seven months after that.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“The King of France, Philip IV, used all this when he set out to destroy them. The Templars maintained a strong presence in France, and Philip felt threatened by their presence. He also desperately needed funds to support his war against England. So, on October 13, 1307, Philip ordered all the Templars arrested on the grounds of heresy, since this was the only charge that would allow him to seize their money and assets. Many were tortured and, as a result, ridiculous confessions were given. These included trampling and spitting on the cross, committing acts of sodomy, and worshiping an idol.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“So what happened to the Knights Templar? SB: The Order simply became too powerful. Pope Innocent II exempted the Templars from all secular authority. This privilege bred an arrogance which was hard for the Templars to conceal.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“Weren’t they a bit before their time? SB: No question. In fact, putting to use their vast wealth, the Templars essentially invented banking as we know it. The Church, of course, forbade the lending of money for interest. The Templars, being clever, changed the manner in which loans were paid, giving themselves room to charge impressive fees for their lending. In time, the Order routinely financed kings and nations. It also invented the check. Pilgrims headed to the Holy Land, instead of carrying their money for thieves to seize, deposited funds with the local Temple;”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“The Gospel of Simon is my creation. But the alternate concept of how Christ may have been “resurrected” came from an excellent book, Resurrection, Myth or Reality by John Shelby Spong. The conflicts between the four books of the New Testament relative to the resurrection (chapter 46), have challenged scholars for centuries. The fact that only one crucified skeleton has ever been found (chapter 50) does raise questions, as do many comments and statements made throughout history. One in particular, attributed to Pope Leo X (1513–1521) caught my attention. Leo was a Medici, a powerful man backed by powerful allies, heading a Church that, at the time, ruled supreme. His statement is short, simple, and strange for the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Indeed, it was the spark that generated this novel. It has served us well, this myth of Christ.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“Noël Corbu lived in Rennes and his part in forging much of the fiction about the place is true (chapter 29). An excellent book, The Treasure of Rennes-le-Château: A Mystery Solved, by Bill Putnam and John Edwin Wood, deals with Corbu’s fabrications. Corbu did purchase Saunière’s domain from the priest’s elderly mistress. Most agree that if Saunière knew anything, he may well have told his mistress. One part of the legend (probably another Corbu fabrication) is that the mistress told Corbu the truth before dying in 1953. But we’ll never know. What we do know is that Corbu profited from the fiction of Rennes, and he was the source, in 1956, for the first newspaper stories about the supposed treasure. As stated in chapter 29, Corbu did pen a manuscript about Rennes, but the pages disappeared after his death in 1968. Eventually, the Rennes legend was memorialized in a 1967 book, The Accursed Treasure of Rennes-le-Château, by Gérard de Sède, which is recognized as the first book on the subject.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“couple of months winter would blanket everything with snow. Part of a cycle. As clear in nature as in life. Good, then bad, then good, then more bad, then more good. He remembered telling Stephanie when he retired that he was fed up with the nonsense.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Through him all things were made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“When he’d read Simon’s testimony he’d finally been provided a historical affirmation of his own religious skepticism. He’d always been troubled by biblical contradictions and their weak explanations. Religion, he feared, was a tool used by men to manipulate other men. The human mind’s need to have answers, even to questions that possessed no answer, had allowed the unbelievable to become gospel. Somehow a comfort came in believing that death was not an end. There was more.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“He showed me that all were worthy of love. He would say, “God is our father. He cares, loves, and forgives all. No sheep will ever be lost from that shepherd. Feel free to tell God all, for only in such openness can the heart gain peace.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“She looked at Mark. “Did your father believe the Bible was not the Word of God?” “We debated the point many times. I was, at first, a believer, and I’d argue with him. But I came to think like he did. It’s a book of stories. Glorious stories, designed to point people toward a good life. There’s even greatness in those stories—if one practices their moral. I don’t think it’s necessary that it’s the Word of God. It’s enough that the words are a timeless truth.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“If a man named Jesus existed, how would the chroniclers of the New Testament know anything about His life? Just consider the language dilemma. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. The New was penned in Greek, and any source materials, if they even existed, would have been in Aramaic. Then there’s the issue of the sources themselves.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“The Bible was a favorite of Malone’s. He’d read it and much historical analysis and knew all about its inconsistencies. Each Gospel was a murky mixture of fact, rumor, legend, and myth that had been subjected to countless translations, edits, and redactions.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“Thorvaldsen nodded. “Intentional on his part. Such a great contradiction they were, and are. Poor by vow, yet rich in assets and knowledge. Introspective, but skilled in the ways of the world. Monks and warriors. The Hollywood stereotype and the real Templar are two different beings. Don’t be swept into the romance. They were a brutal lot.” Malone was not impressed. “How have they survived for seven hundred years without anyone knowing?” “How does an insect or animal live in the wild without anyone knowing it exists? Yet new species are cataloged every day.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“A leathery face suggested a lifetime of impossible choices,”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“In an apse twenty feet away he spotted an iron candelabrum.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“With the candelabrum in hand,”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“Bethany. “That’s biblical. In the Holy Land. It means ‘house with an answer.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“CLAUSTRUM SINE ARMARIO EST QUASI CASTRUM SINE ARMAMENTARIO. A monastery without a library is like a castle without an armory.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“mind is terrifying. Lars often spoke of the malady and”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“He'd was called first Cephas in Aramaic, then Petros, rock, in Greek. Eventually he became Peter and the Gospels proclaimed that Christ said, Upon this rock I shall build my church.'
The testimony was the first ancient account he'd ever read that made sense. No supernatural events or miraculous apparitions. No actions contrary to history or logic. No inconsistent details that cast doubt on credibility. Just the testimony by a simple fisherman of how he'd borne witness to a great man, one whose good works and kind words lived on after his death, enough to inspire him to continue the cause.”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“1. "...All the complicated things in life can be settled over a cup of coffee. A person will tell more of their private life after one good cup of coffee, than after a magnum of Champagne or a quarter of port.." ((page 79)).

2. "..Care for the needy,comfort the distressed, befriend the rejected.." ((Simon's Testimony..page 464..))

3."..The man Jesus said that was wrong and offered the sick the courage to become well, the weak the ability to grow a strong spirit, and nonbelievers the chance to believe.." ((Simon's Testimony..page 461))”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy

“His world was distinctly male. His experience with women minimal. They were a different breed, of that he was sure,”
― Steve Berry, The Templar Legacy