Genghis Khan And The Making Of The Modern World Quotes
"Fate did not hand Genghis Khan his destiny; he made it for himself."
"The wind in the horsehair inspired the warrior’s dreams and encouraged him to pursue his own destiny."
"In twenty-five years, the Mongol army subjugated more lands and people than the Romans had conquered in four hundred years."
"He lowered taxes for everyone, and abolished them altogether for doctors, teachers, priests, and educational institutions."
"Triumph could not be partial. It was complete, total, and undeniable—or it was nothing."
"Genghis Khan recognized that warfare was not a sporting contest or a mere match between rivals; it was a total commitment of one people against another."
"Victory did not come to the one who played by the rules; it came to the one who made the rules and imposed them on his enemy."
"Despite the many images and pictures of Genghis Khan made in subsequent years, we have no portrait of him made within his lifetime."
"Genghis Khan, his Mongol horde, and to a large extent the Asian people in general became unidimensional caricatures, the symbol of all that lay beyond the civilized pale."
"Seemingly every aspect of European life—technology, warfare, clothing, commerce, food, art, literature, and music—changed during the Renaissance as a result of the Mongol influence."
"In the face of so many daily dangers from both predators and weather, Mongols developed a system in which children had to obey their parents unquestioningly."
"The tragedies his family endured seemed to have instilled in him a profound determination to defy the strict caste structure of the steppes."
"Anyone outside the kinship network was automatically an enemy, and the closer the kin, the closer the tie should be."
"The skills of such play proved invaluable to horsemanship later in life."
"They practiced their religion in sanctuaries located in gers, and de-emphasized theology and rigidity of belief in favor of a varied reading of the Scriptures combined with general medical care."
"By postponing the looting until the end of the campaign, Temujin’s army amassed more goods and animals than ever before."
"The Tayichiud did not know of Temujin’s wound, and during the night many of them began to sneak off the battlefield."
"His entire Mongol tribe became integrated by means of the army."
"The horse symbolized the power of Temujin’s destiny, and its sacrifice...not only fed the men, but further empowered Temujin’s Spirit Banner."
"By controlling the distribution of all the looted goods, he had again violated the traditional rights of the aristocratic lineages under him."
"If he sends me into fire or water I go. I go for him."
"Like waves, they struck and then disappeared as quickly as they had appeared."
"The night was dark and moonless, and the only escape route was on the steep back side of the mountain."
"We ate the food that is not to be digested, and we spoke to each other the words that are not to be forgotten."
"I would be the louse in your collar, I would become the splinter in your door-panel."
"Every healthy male aged fifteen to seventy was an active member of the army."
"The Great Law, however, did not represent a single codification of the law so much as an ongoing body of legal work."
"To be a just Mongol, one had to live in a just community."
"He ruled not merely as the khan of the Tatars, the Kereyid, or the Naiman. He was to be the ruler of all the People of the Felt Walls."
"The most important rules that he created for his army concerned the loss of soldiers."
"The Mongols did not find honor in fighting; they found honor in winning."
"The Mongols would use silk to wrap their other goods and as packing material."
"The Mongol warriors modified the traditional steppe strategy of rounding up the enemy’s herds and stampeding them toward their owners’ battle lines."
"The Mongols, who were always low in numbers compared with the place they invaded, put the massive number of people to strategic uses."
"The Mongols showed little concern for the loss of enemy life so long as it preserved Mongol life."
"He had far more goods now than he could possibly use or distribute to his people."
"The Muslims in that part of the world produced the finest of all metals, the magnificent gleaming steel."
"Genghis Khan wanted these exotic commodities, and toward this end he sought a trading partnership."
"I have the greatest desire to live in peace with you. I shall look on you as my son."
"The whirlwind of anger cast dust into the eyes of patience and clemency."
"He killed some of the envoys and mutilated the faces of the others."
"He therefore toward the latter end of this Year 1217 sent three Ambassadors to him with Presents."
"The Mongol invasion caused more damage here than anywhere else their horses would tread."
"The Mongols promised justice to those who surrendered, but they swore destruction to those who resisted."
"Genghis Khan epitomized ruthlessness in the eyes of the Muslims."
"The Mongols did not torture, mutilate, or maim."
"The greatest joy a man can know is to conquer his enemies and drive them before him."
"If you can't swallow your pride, you can't lead."
"The vision should never stray far from the teaching of the elders."
"It is the will of God that we take the earth and maintain order."
"From the safety of catwalks behind their own newly built wall, the Mongol warriors now looked down upon the city of Riazan."
"Their catapults rained down rocks, chunks of wood, flaming pots of naphtha, gunpowder, and other unknown substances."
"After five terrorizing and highly destructive days of bombardment, the Mongols finally emerged from behind their wall."
"Matthew Paris recorded the oldest known mention of the Mongols in western Europe, calling them 'an immense horde of that detestable race of Satan.'"
"The fire, smoke, and confusion caused by these unknown substances from an unseen invader demoralized the people."
"On the battlefields of Europe, future control of the Mongol Empire and the world was being fought over."
"We Mongols believe in one God, by Whom we live and Whom we die and toward Him we have an upright heart."
"Just as God gave different fingers to the hand so has He given different ways to men."
"The Mongol Empire would not expand any further in the West."
"The entire campaign from Kiev to Germany had been merely a Mongol diversion."
"With the fall of Kiev, the Mongol conquest of the European east was complete."
"For Mongke, this meant starting the conquest with a campaign against the adjacent lands of Sichuan to the west and Yunnan to the southwest of the Sung."
"In May 1258, only three months after Hulegu’s sack of Baghdad, Mongke Khan led his army across the Yellow River."
"Mongke Khan became ill but improved—and then, on August 11, 1259, he suddenly died."
"The Mongol Empire reached its greatest extent under Mongke Khan, who was the last of Genghis Khan’s descendants to be acknowledged and accepted as Great Khan."
"Khubilai preferred buildings and cities. He seemed as comfortable in a palace as in a tent, and he may have even spoken some Chinese."
"In contrast to Khubilai’s cosmopolitan persona, Arik Boke lived very much as a man of the steppes."
"Khubilai Khan and the New Mongol Empire - This Great Khan is the mightiest man, whether in respects of subjects or territory or of treasure."
"Khubilai’s capital had broad, straight streets run on a north-south axis with east-west streets perpendicular to them."
"Khubilai Khan’s administration guaranteed landowners their property rights, reduced taxes, and improved roads and communications."
"The greatest legacy of the Mongol Empire bequeathed to the Chinese is the Chinese nation itself."
"The larger numbers of calculations required new ways of preserving information through the compilation of complex charts."
"Written history was much more than a means of recording information; it served as a tool to legitimize the ruling dynasty."
"General literacy increased during the Mongol dynasty, and the volume of literary material grew proportionately."
"The rulers of the Mongol Empire displayed a persistent universalism."
"They searched for what worked best; and when they found it, they spread it to other countries."
"The ideas of the Mongol Empire awakened new possibilities in the European mind."
"The Europeans received all the benefits of trade, technology transfer, and the Global Awakening without paying the cost of Mongol conquest."
"The increased demand for paper arose with the spread of printing."
"The new technology made the relatively minor trade of book making into one of the most potent forces of public life."
"The common principles of the Mongol Empire—such as paper money, primacy of the state over the church, freedom of religion, diplomatic immunity, and international law—were ideas that gained new importance."
"He had brought about complete peace and quiet."
"I have the greatest desire to live in peace."
"Was ever spreading the carpet of merrymaking."