They really wanted freedom from error

Although the Puritans are often depicted as seeking freedom of conscience, that is misleading. They really wanted freedom from error - in other words liberty from false religion imposed by Charles and his advisers in order to foster true religion according to their Calvinist standards. Not only Catholics but also Anglicans were excluded from the colony: two of the first settlers, the Browne brothers, were shipped back home because they wanted to worship according to the Book of Common Prayer.

D. Reynolds, America: Empire of Liberty (2009), 34

These billions have done more to chart the universe than did Galileo Galilei, Christopher Columbus and Charles Darwin

During the last 500 years modern science has achieved wonders thanks largely to the willingness of governments, businesses, foundations and private donors to channel billions of dollars into scientific research. These billions have done more to chart the universe than did Galileo Galilei, Christopher Columbus and Charles Darwin. If these particular geniuses had never been born their insights would probably have occurred to others. But if proper funding were unavailable, no intellectual brilliance could he compensated for that.

Y.N. Hariri, Sapiens (2011), 303

The only steak you could obtain in Argentina in 1492 was from a llama

One of the most interesting examples of this globalisation is 'ethnic' cuisine. In an Italian restaurant we expect to find spaghetti in tomato sauce; in Polish and Irish restaurants lots of potatoes; in an Argentinian restaurant we can choose between dozens of kinds of beefsteaks; in an Indian restaurant hot chillis are incorporated into just about everything; and the highlight at any Swiss cafe is thick ho chocolate under an alp of whipped cream. But none of those foods is native to those nations. Tomatoes, chilli peppers and cocoa are all Mexican in origin. They reached Europe and Asia only after the Spanish conquered Mexico. Julius Caesar and Dante Alighieri never twirled tomato-drenched spaghetti on their forks (even forks hadn't been invented), William Tell never tasted chocolate, and Buddha never spiced up his food with chilli. Potatoes reached Poland and Ireland no more than 400 years ago. The only steak you could obtain in Argentina in 1492 was from a llama.

Y.N. Hariri, Sapiens (2011), 188-9

History is something that very few people have been doing while everyone else was ploughing fields and carrying water buckets

Until the late modern era, more than 90 per cent of humans were peasants who rose each morning to till the land by the sweat of their brows. They extra they produced fed the tiny minority of elites - kings, government officials, soldiers, priests, artists and thinkers - who fill the history books. History is something that very few people have been doing while everyone else was ploughing fields and carrying water buckets.

Y.N. Hariri, Sapiens (2011), 114


'kings, government officials, soldiers, priests' is how I got my degree.

I was so relieved when the Cultural Revolution began. I just threw the exam results down the toilet and wrote the editorial

Like all my classmates, Future had been a Red Guard. In 1966, he formed a faction of two at his high school in Beijing and mimeographed his own newspaper. "Exams are a reactionary, bourgeois tool," he thundered in his maiden editorial. His instincts were purely pragmatic. "I had failed math and was afraid to show my marks to my father," he explained to me. "I was so relieved when the Cultural Revolution began. I just threw the exam results down the toilet and wrote the editorial."

J. Wong, Red China Blues (1996), 143

Since the Gnostics already knew what the text meant, they were no longer constrained by what the text "said"

This refusal to subscribe to a literal understanding of the text was a source of perennial frustration for the proto-orthodox church fathers. ... Since the Gnostics already knew what the text meant (Christ had told them!) they were no longer constrained by what the text "said" (or at least what the orthodox said it said)

B. D. Ehrman, The orthodox corruption of scripture (1993), 123

But the final phrase, "The Son of God," is lacking in several important witnesses

The vast majority of manuscripts introduce the Gospel of Mark with the words; "the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." But the final phrase, "The Son of God," is lacking in several important witnesses... In terms of numbers, the support for the shorter text is slight. But in terms of antiquity and character, this not a confluence to be trifled with. It frequently has been trifled with, however, and here is where one finds no little confusion in earlier discussions of the problem

B. D. Ehrman, The orthodox corruption of scripture (1993), 72

As you can probably guess, we have been reading the opening lines of Mark's gospel wrong. There's no Son of God in the original.