Notable Quote: St. Isadore of Seville on Prayer and Reading

What a great quote from one of the great scholar saints of all time, St. Isadore of Seville.  St. Isadore’s great work was the encyclopedic Etymologiae, a summary of all the knowledge that was known to date, “ranging from grammar and rhetoric to the earth and the cosmos, buildings, metals, war, ships, humans, animals, medicine, law, religions and the hierarchies of angels and saints.”  He was extraordinarily well read.  He was also Archbishop of Seville, so he combined classical learning with Christian faith.  Here’s the quote:

"Prayer purifies us, reading instructs us. Both are good when both are possible. Otherwise, prayer is better than reading."

— St. Isidore of Seville

Now here’s a thought.  Isadore would have made a perfect Dominican, combining the contemplative life with that of active.  However, he lived a good 500 years before the order was founded.