Genghis Khan and the Quest for God Quotes

“He considered betrayal of duty, cowardice, lying, and laziness the vilest of all sins, and he praised those who put personal honor above their well-being, or even their life. He knew he could never depend on those who valued riches over honor. “Such people are base, craven, and they are slaves by nature,” wrote Juvaini. “Genghis Khan despised and destroyed them without mercy.”22”
― Jack Weatherford, Genghis Khan and the Quest for God: How the World's Greatest Conqueror Gave Us Religious Freedom

“The Mongols believed that the destiny of each creature was ordained by the sky above. If God did not want humans to strive, he would not have given them the ability to dream as they did. Like other children, Temujin was captive to a destiny that determined when and where he was born, who his parents were, if he was to be rich or poor, and whether he would be short or tall. Fate determined the weather and many other factors over which he exercised no control, but his spirit determined what he could do with these circumstances.”
― Jack Weatherford, Genghis Khan and the Quest for God: How the World's Greatest Conqueror Gave Us Religious Freedom

“Usually the assassination was a suicide attack, as his targets’ guards generally either killed assassins immediately or captured and then tortured them to death. But some managed to escape and return to the lands around Alamut, where they were invited to live a blessed life of paradise on Earth, meaning ample supplies of drugs and sex. It is from this practice of using hashish that they supposedly acquired their name of hashshashin, users or smokers of hashish. It is debatable how much hashish was consumed, and this may merely have been an insult hurled by their enemies to explain their addled thinking. Whether or not it was true, the term took on a new connotation in the West and became the modern word assassin.”
― Jack Weatherford, Genghis Khan and the Quest for God: How the World's Greatest Conqueror Gave Us Religious Freedom

“Genghis Khan always honored his word. Those who surrendered suffered no harm, and he treated them well. In turn, he used this fair treatment as a means of encouraging other cities to surrender.”
― Jack Weatherford, Genghis Khan and the Quest for God: How the World's Greatest Conqueror Gave Us Religious Freedom