Hand of Isis Quotes

“Whether or not that’s how it is,” I said, “we must live according to what we believe, not the beliefs of others.”

“The beliefs of others are not irrelevant, not when they shape the world we live in!”

“I didn’t say they were irrelevant. But they will never dictate my judgment or my decisions,” I snapped back. “Because others believe something does not make it true. You are not stupid because Plato says you must be, nor is Cleopatra a whore because some Roman wit will say it. I will never trust any learned opinion more than what I see in front of my face.”
― Jo Graham, Hand of Isis

“The truth will make us free, Charmian. The best we can do is carry the banner proudly in our own time.”
― Jo Graham, Hand of Isis

“Can the leopard change his spots?” Emrys mused. “Leopards have, but the other leopards don’t like it.”
― Jo Graham, Hand of Isis

“Have you ever done something so horrible and so irreparable that you knew there was nothing you could ever do to fix it?”

“No,” I said gently. “Mostly because I’m eight.”
― Jo Graham, Hand of Isis

“The mark of an educated person was a rational mind…To believe in prophecy or the intervention of the divine was no more than sloppy thinking. - Apollodorus”
― Jo Graham, Hand of Isis

“Someone who doesn’t know. There are lots of people who don’t, in other countries.”
“If they come here, you’d think they’d learn,” she said. “It’s stupid to go somewhere and wander around offending their gods and people.”
“He was Roman,” I said.
Dion snorted. “Which means he didn’t care.” We looked at him, and he went on. “That’s what my father says. He says the Romans don’t care anything for the customs of other people, and that they don’t even want other people to worship their own gods. That the worst thing that can happen to a people is to come under Roman rule.”
“Why would you care who your subjects worship?” Cleopatra said practically. “As long as they pay their taxes and don’t rebel? I mean, most people worship Isis and Serapis at least some, but if they don’t it’s not like there’s anything bad that happens to them.”
“Like the Jews,” I said, thinking of the most prominent group that didn’t worship Isis and Serapis. Jews had been in Alexandria forever, but there never had been any kind of problem with them.
Dion nodded. He looked very serious. “Since Rome annexed Judea four years ago, lots and lots more Jews have come to Alexandria. Haven’t you noticed?”
I hadn’t, but didn’t say so. I didn’t know a huge amount about Judea, truth to tell, though of course I knew about Queen Salome, who had only died seven years before and had been the most powerful queen in generations. Since her death, her country had fallen into all kinds of disarray.
“The Roman Pompeius Magnus even went into the Temple, into the Holy of Holies,” Dion said. “It was his way of showing that he could do whatever he wanted.”
That was serious, I thought. Almost all temples had an inner sanctum, where no one but priests were allowed. It was horribly blasphemous for anyone else to go in, and it certainly would never have occurred to Auletes to do it, even in the temples of our own gods. And it’s always a bad idea to offend other people’s gods. You never knew what might happen.
Cleopatra must have been thinking the same thing. “What happened?” she asked.
Dion shrugged. “Jews hate Pompeius. And lots and lots have come to Alexandria since then, bringing their money and their crafts.”
“And so their economy is hurt and ours benefits,”
― Jo Graham, Hand of Isis