Giordano Bruno (Astronomer)

Since I have spread my wings to purpose high, The more beneath my feet the clouds I see, The more I give the winds my pinions free, Spurning the earth and soaring to the sky.

— Giordano Bruno art

That I shall sink in death, I know must be; But with that death of mine what life will die? Across the air, I hear my heart's voice cry: Where dost thou bear me reckless one? Descend! Such rashness seldom ends but bitterly'"Fear not the lofty fall" I answer "rend With might the clouds, and be content to die, Ifsuch a gloriousfor us intend."

— Giordano Bruno life

Chi vuole che la quaresima gli paia corta, si faccia debito per pagare a Pasqua.

— Giordano Bruno

The Divineis always in , presenting itself to theand to the comprehension, but man rejects it.

— Giordano Bruno self

Heroicis the property of those superiorwho are called insane (insano) not because they do not , but because they over-know (soprasanno).

— Giordano Bruno hero

I understand Being inand over all, as there iswithout participation in Being, and there is no being without Essence. Thus nothing can be free of the Divine Presence.

— Giordano Bruno art

If all things are in common among , the most precious is . What can Juno give which thou canst not receive from Wisdom? What mayest thou admire in Venus which thou mayest not also contemplate in Wisdom? Heris not small, for the lord of all things takethin her. Her I have loved and diligently sought from my youth up.

— Giordano Bruno love

is none other thanin things...and plants are living effects of Nature; Whenceis in all things... Think thus, of thein the crocus, in the narcissus, in the heliotrope, in the rooster, in the .

— Giordano Bruno living

La cena de le ceneri (1584)

— Giordano Bruno

is theof , itsis our .

— Giordano Bruno

A constellation of the most , obstinateand , mixed with a kind of rustic incivility, which would try theof .

— Giordano Bruno wit

Blind error, avaricious , adverse , Deaf , vile madness, jealous iniquity, Crude , perverse , insane , Will not be sufficient to obscure the air for me, Will not place the veil before my eyes, Will never bring it about that I shall not Contemplate my.

— Giordano Bruno madness

De la Causa, Principio e Uno (1584) [Various translations]

— Giordano Bruno

Anything we take in the , because it has in itself that which is , includes in its own way, the entireof the world, which is entirely in any part of it.

— Giordano Bruno art

, , and From whom being, life, and movement are suspended, And which extends itself in length, breadth, and depth, To whatever is in , on , and ; With , with , with , I discern, That there is no , measure, nor calculation, which can comprehend That , that vastness and that , Which exceeds whatever is inferior, middle, and highest;Blind , avaricious , adverse , Deaf , vile ,iniquity, Crude , perverse , insane , Will not be sufficient to obscure the air for me, Will not place the veil before my , Will never bring it about that I shall not Contemplate my.

— Giordano Bruno life

It is manifest... that everyand spirit hath a certain continuity with the spirit of the , so that it must be understood to exist and to be included not only there where it liveth and feeleth, but it is also by its essence and substance diffused throughout immensity... Theof each soul is itself somehow present afar in the universe... Naught is mixed, yet is there some presence.Anything we take in the universe, because it has in itself that which is , includes in its own way the entireof the , which is entirely in any part of it.

— Giordano Bruno art

The universal Intellect is the intimate, most real, peculiar and powerful part of the soul of the world. This is the single whole which filleth the whole, illumineth the universe and directeth nature to the production of natural things, as our intellect with the congruous production of natural kinds.

— Giordano Bruno art

We find that everything that makes up difference andis pure accident, pure show, pure constitution. Every production, of whatever kind, is an alteration, but the substance remains always the same, because it is only one, one divine immortal being.

— Giordano Bruno hate

Theis one, infinite, immobile. The absolute potential is one, the act is one, the form or soul is one, the material or body is one, the thing is one, the being in one, one is the maximum and the best... It is not generated, because there is no other being it could desire orfor, since it comprises all being. It does not grow corrupt. because there is nothing else into which it could , given that it is itself all things. It cannot diminish or grow, since it is .

— Giordano Bruno soul

This whole which is visible in different ways in bodies, as far as formation, constitution, , colors and other properties and common qualities, is none other than the diverseof the same substance...

— Giordano Bruno die

Everything that consists in generation, decay, alteration andis not an entity, but a condition and circumstance of entity and being...

— Giordano Bruno being

This whole which is visible in different ways in bodies, as far as formation, constitution, appearance, colors and other properties and common qualities, is none other than the diverseof the same substance — a changeable, mobile face, subject to decay, of an immobile, permanent andbeing.

— Giordano Bruno change

Everything that makes diversity of kinds, of species, differences, properties… everything that consists in generation, decay, alteration andis not an entity, but a condition and circumstance of entity and being, which is one, infinite, immobile, subject, matter, , , , ,and .

— Giordano Bruno being

Everywhere there is incessant relative change in position throughout the , and the observer is always at the centre of things.

— Giordano Bruno change

All things are in the , and the universe is in all things: we in it, and it in us; in this way everything concurs in a perfect .

— Giordano Bruno universe

It is manifest that everyhas a certain continuity with the soul of the , so that it must be understood to exist and to be included not only there where it liveth and feeleth, but it is also by its essence and substance diffused throughout immensity. The power of each soul is itself somehow present afar in the Universe. It is not mixed, yet is there in some presence.

— Giordano Bruno power

Anything we take in the Universe, because it has in itself that which is , includes in its own way, the entireof the , which is entirely in any part of it.

— Giordano Bruno art

The universe comprises all being in a totality; for nothing that exists is outside or beyond infinite being, as the latter has no outside or beyond.

— Giordano Bruno universe

This entire globe, this , not being subject to , and dissolution and annihilation being impossible anywhere in , fromto time renews itself by changing and altering all its parts. There is no absolute up or down, astaught; no absolute position in ; but the position of a body is relative to that of other bodies. Everywhere there is incessant relativein position throughout the universe, and the observer is always at the centre of things.

— Giordano Bruno time

De l'infinito universo et mondi (1584)

— Giordano Bruno

What you receive from others is a testimony to their ; but all that you do for others is theand clear indication of your own.

— Giordano Bruno you

That which others saw from afar, I leave far behind me.

— Giordano Bruno

I pray you, magnificent Sir, do not trouble yourself to return to us, but await our coming to you.

— Giordano Bruno self

When thecomes, you will be esteemed by theand rewarded by , not because you have won theandof the princes of the , however powerful, but rather for having loved, defended and cherished one such as I ... what you receive from others is a testimony to their ; but all that you do for others is theand clear indication of your own.

— Giordano Bruno love

To a body of infinite size there can be ascribed neither centre nor boundary... Thus theno more than any other world is at the centre.

— Giordano Bruno world

It is then unnecessary to investigate whether there be beyond the, Void or . For there is a single general space, a single vast immensity which we may freely call Void; in it are innumerable globes like this one on which we live and grow. This space we declare to be , since neither , convenience, possibility, sense-perception norassign to it a limit. In it are an infinity of worlds of the same kind as our own.

— Giordano Bruno men

When we consider the being and substance of that universe in which we are immutably set, we shall discover that neither we ourselves nor any substance doth suffer . for nothing is in fact diminished in its substance, but all things, wandering through infinite space, undergo change of aspect.

— Giordano Bruno change

After it hath been seen how the obstinate and theofdisposition are accustomed to dispute, it will further be shewn how disputes are wont to conclude; although others are so wary that without losing their composure, but with a sneer, a , a certain discreet malice, that which they have not succeeded in proving by argument — nor indeed can it be understood by themselves — nevertheless by theseof courteous disdain they pretend to have proven, endeavouring not only to conceal their own patently obvious ignorance but to cast it on to the back of their adversary. For they dispute not in order to find or even to seek , but for , and to appear the more learned and strenuous upholders of a contrary . Such persons should be avoided by all who have not a good breastplate of .

— Giordano Bruno war

I cleave theand soar to the infinite. And while I rise from my own globe to others And penetrate ever further through the eternal field, That which others saw from afar, I leave far behind me.

— Giordano Bruno

I pray you, magnificent Sir, do notyourself to return to us, but await our coming to you.

— Giordano Bruno self

Spaccio de la bestia trionfante (1584)

— Giordano Bruno best

reveals herself in all things... everything has Divinity latent within itself.

— Giordano Bruno self

The fortune is varied, only the elements remaining what they are in substance, that same principle persevering which was always the one material principle, which is the true substance of things, eternal, ingenerable and incorruptible.

— Giordano Bruno men

reveals herself in all things... everything has Divinity latent within itself. For she enfolds and imparts herself even unto the smallest beings, and from the smallest beings, according to their capacity. Without her presence nothing would have being, because she is the essence of the existence of the first unto the last being.

— Giordano Bruno art

and plants are living effects of ; this Nature... is none other thanin things... Whenceis in all things... Think thus, of thein the crocus, in the narcissus, in the heliotrope, in the rooster, in the …. To the extent that one communicates with Nature, so one ascends tothrough Nature.

— Giordano Bruno living

Those wise men knewto be in things, and Divinity to be latent in Nature, working and glowing differently in different subjects and succeeding through diverse physical forms, in certain arrangements, in making them participants in her, I say, in her being, in her life and intellect.

— Giordano Bruno life

If he is not Nature herself, he is certainly the nature of Nature, and is the soul of the Soul of the world, if he is not the soul herself.

— Giordano Bruno nature

Of the eternal corporeal substance (which is not producible ex nihilo, nor reducible ad nihilum, but rarefiable, condensable, formable, arrangeable, and "fashionable") the composition is dissolved, the complexion is changed, the figure is modified, the being is altered, the fortune is varied, only the elements remaining what they are in substance, that same principle persevering which was always the one material principle, which is the true substance of things, eternal, ingenerable and incorruptible.

— Giordano Bruno change

Of the eternal incorporeal substanceis changed, is formed or deformed, but there always remains only that thing which cannot be a subject of dissolution, since it is not possible that it be a subject of composition, and therefore, either of itself or by accident, it cannot be said to .

— Giordano Bruno change

Theof thehave been those who have established , ceremonies, , ,of .

— Giordano Bruno

Cabala del Cavallo Pegaseo con l'aggiunta dell' Asino Cillenico, Descritta dal Nolano [Cabal of the Cheval Pegasus with Appendix on the Cillenican Ass, Described by the Nolan] (1585)

— Giordano Bruno sin

Oh holy asininity! holy ! Holyand pious devotion! You who alone do more to advance and make Than human ingenuity and ...

— Giordano Bruno man

Pray, O pray to , dear friends, if you are not already asses — that he will cause you to become asses... There is none who praiseth not the golden age when men were asses: they knew not how to work the land. One knew not how to dominate another, one understood no more than another; caves and caverns were their refuge; they were not so well covered nor so jealous nor were they confections of lust and of greed. Everything was held in common.

— Giordano Bruno work

Oh holy asinity! holy ignorance! Holy foolishness and pious devotion! You who alone do more to advance and make Thaningenuity and ...

— Giordano Bruno sin

De monade, numero et figura (1591)

— Giordano Bruno

Even to have come forth is something, since I see that being able to conquer is placed in the hands of . However, there was in me, whatever I was able to do, that which nocentury will deny to be mine, that which a victor could have for his own: Not to haveto die, not to have yielded to any equal in firmness of , and to have preferred a to a noncombatant .

— Giordano Bruno hate

De innumerabilibus, immenso et infigurabili, usually referred to as De immenso (1591)

— Giordano Bruno men

Theofever bringing forth anew, and even as infiniteis around us, so is infinite potentiality, capacity, reception, malleability, matter.

— Giordano Bruno potential

maintaineth her substance throughout , immensity throughout , universal form throughout motion.

— Giordano Bruno men

The singledoth simultaneously temper the whole together; this is the singleofthings; all are filled with .

— Giordano Bruno sin

The feareth not ; rather she sometimes striveth for death, she goeth beyond to meet her. Yetmaintaineth her substance throughout , immensity throughout , universal form throughout motion.

— Giordano Bruno death

Our … reduceth to a single origin and relateth to a single , and maketh contraries to coincide so that there is one primal foundation both of origin and of end. From this coincidence of contraries, we deduce that ultimately it is divinely true that contraries are within contraries; wherefore it is not difficult to compass the knowledge that each thing is within every other.

— Giordano Bruno knowledge

The one infinite is , in , of itself, absolutely, nor can aught be greater or better, This is the one Whole, , universal , occupying all space, of whom naught butcan give the perfect image or semblance.

— Giordano Bruno self

The single spirit doth simultaneously temper the whole together; this is the singleof all things; all are filled with .

— Giordano Bruno sin

Before anything else the One must exist eternally; from his power derives everything that always is or will ever be. He is the Eternal and embraces all times. He knows profoundly all events and He himself is everything. He creates everything beyond any beginning of time and beyond any limit of place and space. He is not subject to any numerical law, or to any law of measure or order. He himself is , number, measure, limit without limit,without end, act without form.

— Giordano Bruno time

Foris not merely , but is implanted within things, distant from none... And while the outerof things changeth so greatly, there flourisheth the origin of being more intimately within all things than they themselves. The fount of all kinds, , , Being, One, , , , .

— Giordano Bruno change

It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.

— Giordano Bruno change

Time is the father of truth, its mother is our mind.

— Giordano Bruno truth

Divine love does not weigh down, nor carry his servant captive and enslaved to the lowest depths, but raises him, supports him and magnifies him above all liberty whatsoever.

— Giordano Bruno love

It may be you fear more to deliver judgment upon me than I fear judgment.

— Giordano Bruno fear

Nothing is so good that impious and sacrilegious and wicked people cannot contort its proper benefit into evil.

— Giordano Bruno people

The soul, in its power, is present in some way in the entire universe, because it apprehends substances which are not included in the body in which it lives, although they are related to it.

— Giordano Bruno power

With luck on your side, you can do without brains.

— Giordano Bruno you

See how fortune deludes us, and that which we put carefully into her hands, she either breaks or lets it fall from her hands, or causes it to be removed by the violence of another, or suffocates and poisons, or taints with suspicion, fear and jealousy to the great hurt and ruin of the possessor.

— Giordano Bruno fear

Just as Divinity descends in a certain manner, to the extent that one communicates with Nature, so one ascends to Divinity through Nature, just as by means of a life resplendent in natural things one rises to the life that presides over them.

— Giordano Bruno life

Beautiful sights arouse feelings of love, and contrary sights bring feelings of disgrace and hate. And the emotions of the soul and spirit bring something additional to the body itself, which exists under the control of the soul and the direction of the spirit.

— Giordano Bruno love

It is proper that noble spirits, equipped with truth and enlightened with the Divine intelligence, should arm themselves against dense ignorance by climbing up to the high rock and tower of contemplation.

— Giordano Bruno truth

The intellectual power is never at rest; it is never satisfied with any comprehended truth, but ever proceeds on and on towards that truth which is not comprehended. So also the will, which follows the apprehension; we see that it is never satisfied with anything finite.

— Giordano Bruno truth

The whole soul is in the whole body, in the bones and in the veins and in the heart; it is no more present in one part than in another, and it is no less present in one part than in the whole, nor in the whole less than in one part.

— Giordano Bruno art

There is one simple Divinity found in all things, one fecund Nature, preserving mother of the universe insofar as she diversely communicates herself, casts her light into diverse subjects, and assumes various names.

— Giordano Bruno light

That which we have lived is nothing; that which we live is a point; that which we have to live is not yet a point, but may be a point which, together, shall be and shall have been.

— Giordano Bruno live

We see that pedantry has never been held in such esteem for the government of the world as in our times, and it offers as many paths of the true intelligible species and objects of infallible and sole truth as there are individual pedants.

— Giordano Bruno truth

What can be more stupid than to be in pain about future things and absent ones which at present are not felt?

— Giordano Bruno pain

Innumerable spirits and souls, when spread out through the same space, do not interfere with each other such that the diffusion of one would affect the diffusion of an infinity of others.

— Giordano Bruno soul

The soul of the world is in the whole world, and is everywhere so adapted to matter that, at each place, it produces the proper subject and causes the proper actions.

— Giordano Bruno soul

There is a descent from God through the world to animals, and an ascent from animals through the world to God. He is the highest point of the scale, pure act and active power, the purest light.

— Giordano Bruno power

Although one soul lives in the whole body, and all the body's members are controlled by one soul, still the whole body and the whole soul and the parts of the universe are vivified by a certain total spirit.

— Giordano Bruno art

Because of the active principle and spirit or universal soul, nothing is so incomplete, defective or imperfect, or, according to common opinion, so completely insignificant that it could not become the source of great events.

— Giordano Bruno soul

Do you not see what damage has been done to science through this: i.e. pedants wishing to be philosophers; to treat of natural things, and mix themselves with and decide about things Divine?

— Giordano Bruno science

Every soul and spirit has some degree of continuity with the universal spirit, which is recognized to be located not only where the individual soul lives and perceives, but also to be spread out everywhere in its essence and substance, as many Platonists and Pythagoreans have taught.

— Giordano Bruno soul

To the perfect, if it be perfect, there is nothing that can be added; therefore, the will is not capable of any other desire, when that which is of the perfect is present with it, highest and best.

— Giordano Bruno desire

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