Hypatia Quotes

“Because she was taught from a platform of tolerance, there was no room for opposition.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“No matter how different these faiths were, they all had a core belief system that maintained materialism should not be associated with spirituality.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“Among the several writings that Synesius sent to Hypatia wherein he refers to her as the most "holy and revered" philosopher, he writes, "You always have power, and long may you have it and make good use of that power." In this passage, this power that he refers to is the refined connection between an intellectual and spiritual capacity to live peacefully in a world between the extremes of Christianity and Paganism.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“The Egyptian Coptic Bishop John of Nikiu wrote about Hypatia almost 300 years after her passing. He described her as a "Satanic witch who was "devoted to magic". For hundreds of years, this misinformation and false propaganda defined Hypatia. Hypatia was not a witch. Nor did she practice metaphysics or "beguile" men.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“However in one deed, Hypatia was able to teach several lessons. Her powerful message let her students know that women represent more than which is "beautiful". With this lesson, she taught her students that men should not objectify women, but rather value them for their intellect and acumen.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“With the sight of her menstrual blood, she successfully repulsed him, surprised him, and shamed him. She had to make sure that he understood that his infatuation with his instructor was irrational.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“Professors are the sum total of their works and passions. The amount of dedication that goes into creating a body of educational work encompasses a magnitude of time that includes gathering truth, assembling peer-reviewed information, and evaluating intellectual theories.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“Like two perceptive leaders, they trod carefully, establishing strongholds and making allies wherever they could.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“The brewing struggle between church and state was underway. It would become a battle to last for more than a thousand years in some countries, and a campaign that would never end in some others.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“Aware of her status as a female academic and advisor, Hypatia fearlessly and gracefully succeeded in a world where women were not expected or even allowed to hold positions of power.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“Whether this courage was innate or whether their parents conditioned them to have resolve, knowing that there were other women in the world also pursing science and math perhaps inspired them with perseverance. This sisterly inspiration, though minimal and new to the world, was a powerful movement. Even though their diligence may have wavered for thousands of years, like the women who persisted, they never gave up.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“Metrodora devoted her life to her clinical practice preserving her findings, serving her patients, advancing science, and promoting the science of gynecology.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“Hypatia and Fabiola were similar in many ways. Hypatia declared her virginity and abstinence to solidify her role in academia. Fabiola presented her divorce and denounced her love for money to claim her role in the church. Their careers were carried out with passion and altruism. They both devoted their lives selflessly to those who needed them. Their public acts of generosity would inevitably expose their personal lives to public scrutiny. Finally, they were both inquisitive and empowered by knowledge.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“For Hypatia, she had no alternative but to live her best and most accomplished life in a guarded community filled with religious infighting. She became fearless, and she became bold. Moreover, she made an impressive mark on academia in a century when society expected women to live life of domesticity.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“Possibly Hypatia entered the world in the middle of a storm. Hypatia's nature was equally compelling because she became the gale that altered history. Hypatia was a force of nature.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“Of all Theon's endeavors, raising his daughter as a leader was his most profound accomplishment.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“Theon gave her the skills that would challenge her mental aptitude and intellectual capabilities, regardless of gender.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“She had self-respect that was infectious and intelligence that inspired.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“Like her father, Hypatia immersed herself in academics during an era that was perishing. Regardless, she persisted in encouraging self-development and intellectual aptitude.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“She was intelligent, charitable, and insightful. Her philosophy provided communal peace in a city with many political and religious divisions.
Moreover, Hypatia never wavered. She epitomized resilience. The highway that women in STEM walk today would not have been possible without the faint trail that emerged out of fourth-century Alexandria forged by Hypatia.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“He references Hypatia in his work Commentary on Book Three of Ptolemy's Almagest. This mention is an honorable and rare depiction of her relationship with her father. Thus, from a direct and close source, we can better understand Hypatia, who was more than "exceedingly beautiful". Hypatia was an intelligent, capable, and accomplished academic.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“Damascus wrote that Theon raised Hypatia with dikaaeosyne (justice) and sophroysyne (temperance). Sophrosyne is the antonym of hubris and is a Greek term to describe one with excellence in character. It is the ancient Greek conception of a Platonic ideal that means superiority of character and awareness. Dikaeosyne means to exist with integrity and virtue. In Biblical terms, it means to be acceptable to God. In Hypatia's Neoplatonic terms, it means to be suitable to an ideal that is an infinite, transcendent One.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“Even though other women left a historical impression on academics, it was not enough to give women and girls the platform they needed to stand upon for future generations. Thus, Hypatia forged a scant path and helped create a world where today, women comprise thirty percent of the workforce in science, technology, engineering, and math.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“The enthralling elegance of mathematics defines the circular motion of the stars, the angles of observation, the tallies of our economics, the shapes of our tools, the counting of our assets, and the creation of delicious food, compelling art, and captivating music. The span of our evolution provides a humbling realization that the brain has been mathematically evolving for thousands of years before any evidence we may currently have. Concepts and ideas have continually built upon previous mathematical truths, which humans have frequently proved, tested, and retested to establish new foundational truths. These scientific truths linger in the mathematical cognizance of the birds that count their hatchlings, the bees that geometrically shape their homes, the dogs that count their treats, and the seals that understand the flow of the oceans currents.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life

“Everything in the cosmos obeyed the laws of physics and mathematics long before humans observed, understood, or interacted with it.”
― Gabrielle Birchak, Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life