“Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.”
— Hypatia Hypatia
This quote is attributed to Hypatia through the writings of Elbert Hubbard, drawing on ancient sources about her teaching philosophy in Alexandria.
I was born in Alexandria around 350 AD. My father Theon was the last known mathematician at the Library of Alexandria and he raised me as his intellectual equal. I taught philosophy, astronomy, and mathematics at the Neoplatonic school. Students traveled from across the Mediterranean to hear me. I built astrolabes and hydrometers. I advised the Roman prefect Orestes. In 415, a Christian mob dragged me from my carriage and murdered me. I was around sixty-five.