The Works of Philo Quotes

“And yet by nature the servants are born free; for no man is by nature a slave.”
― Philo of Alexandria, The Works of Philo

“For, as I have said before, the storehouses of wickedness are in us ourselves, and those of good alone are with God.”
― Philo of Alexandria, The Works of Philo

“And these explanations of the sacred scriptures are delivered by mystic expressions in allegories, for the whole of the law appears to these men to resemble a living animal, and its express commandments seem to be the body, and the invisible meaning concealed under and lying beneath the plain words resembles the soul, in which the rational soul begins most excellently to contemplate what belongs to itself, as in a mirror, beholding in these very words the exceeding beauty of the sentiments, and unfolding and explaining the symbols, and bringing the secret meaning naked to the light to all who are able by the light of a slight intimation to perceive what is unseen by what is visible.”
― Philo of Alexandria, The Works of Philo

“They have been instructed by nature and the sacred laws to serve the living God, who is superior to the good, and more simple than the one, and more ancient than the unit; with whom, however, who is there of those who profess piety that we can possibly compare?”
― Philo of Alexandria, The Works of Philo

“This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat, this is the thing which the Lord hath commanded You." You see now what kind of thing the food of the Lord is, it is the continued word of the Lord, like dew, surrounding the whole soul in a circle, and allowing no portion of it to be without its share of itself.”
― Philo of Alexandria, The Works of Philo