This king [Sesostris] divided the land among all Egyptians so as to give each one a quadrangle of equal size and to draw from each his revenues, by imposing a tax to be levied yearly. But everyone from whose part the river tore anything away, had to go to him to notify what had happened; he then sent overseers who had to measure out how much the land had become smaller, in order that the owner might pay on what was left, in proportion to the entire tax imposed. In this way, it appears to me, geometry originated, which passed thence to Hellas.

As the old saw says well: every end does not appear together with its beginning.

It [Egypt] has more wonders in it than any other country in the world and provides more works that defy description than any otherplace.

Love of honor is a very shady sort of possession.

The most hateful grief of all human griefs is to have knowledge of a truth, but no power over the event.

The wooden wall alone should remain unconquered.

Egypt is the gift of the Nile.