25 quotes
The Worthiness of Seeking the Grail
Robert Langdon
Only the worthy can find the Grail, Leigh. You told me that.
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The Burden of Sin in Every Breath
Silas
Every breath you take is a sin
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Identity and Protection in The Da Vinci Code
Sophie Neveu
We are what we protect, what we stand up for.
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A War to Protect a Powerful Secret
Sir Leigh Teabing
We are in the middle of a war. One that has been going on forever to protect a secret so powerful that if revealed it would devastate the very foundations of mankind.
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A Suggestion of Forceful Action
Remy
(at the hangar while police are searching plane) You know, I could run them over if you wish, sir.
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Secrets Kept Within a Cryptex Design
Sophie Neveu
A cryptex. They are used to keep secrets. It's Da Vinci's design.
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A Command in a Tense Situation
Silas
Do not move, woman. Cripple, put the box on the table.
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Unraveling Family Secrets and Legends
Robert Langdon
Hey.
Sophie Neveu
She has some things she wants to tell me. About my family.
Robert Langdon
What will you do? The legend will be revealed when the heir reveals himself.
Sophie Neveu
They just got the pronoun wrong. She said when Sauniere died he took the location of Mary's sarcophagus with him. So there's no way to empirically prove that I am related to her. What would you do, Robert?
Robert Langdon
Okay, maybe there is no proof. Maybe the Grail is lost forever. But, Sophie, the only thing that matters is what you believe. History shows us Jesus was an extraordinary man, a human inspiration. That's it. That's all the evidence has ever proved. But... when I was a boy... when I was down in that well Teabing told you about, I thought I was going to die, Sophie. What I did, I prayed. I prayed to Jesus to keep me alive so I could see my parents again, so I could go to school again, so I could play with my dog. Sometimes I wonder if I wasn't alone down there. Why does it have to be human or divine? Maybe human is divine. Why couldn't Jesus have been a father and still be capable of all those miracles?
Sophie Neveu
Like turning water into wine?
Robert Langdon
Well, who knows? His blood is your blood. Maybe that junkie in the park will never touch a drug again. Maybe you healed my phobia with my hands.
Sophie Neveu
And maybe you're a knight on a Grail quest.
Robert Langdon
Well, here's the question: A living descendant of Jesus Christ - would she destroy faith? Or would she renew it? So again I say, what matters is what you believe.
Sophie Neveu
Thank you. For bringing me here. For letting him choose you, Sir Robert.
Robert Langdon
You take care.
Sophie Neveu
Yes.
Sophie Neveu
Hey. Nope. Maybe I'll do better with the wine.
[Sophie walks up to a nearby pond, sticks out a foot to see if she can walk on it and fails]
Robert Langdon
Godspeed.
[Robert smiles]
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Debate on Historical Evidence and Beliefs
Robert Langdon
This is an old wives tale.
[Dismissively]
Sir Leigh Teabing
The original one, in fact!
Robert Langdon
There's virtually no empirical proof!
Sir Leigh Teabing
He knows as well as I do, there's much evidence to support it!
Robert Langdon
Theories. There are theories.
Sir Leigh Teabing
Notice how Jesus and Mary are clothed. Mirror images of each other!
[Zooms out on the screen, to show Jesus and Mary in the same frame. They are wearing blue on their outside arms and a bright colour on their inside arms; their clothing illuminates as the rest of the picture darkens, to heighten Teabing's point.]
Robert Langdon
The mind sees what it chooses to see.
Sir Leigh Teabing
And venturing into the even more bizarre, notice how Jesus and Mary appear to be joined at the hip and are leaning away from each other, as if to create a shape in the negative space between them. Leonardo gives us...the chalice!
[he highlights the area, which resembles a triangle pointing down]
Robert Langdon
Hmm.
Sir Leigh Teabing
Yes. Ooh, and Robert, er, notice what happens when these two figures change position.
[laughs briefly; He brings a representation of Mary over to Jesus' left side, so it looks like she has her head on His shoulder.]
Sophie Neveu
Just because Da Vinci painted it doesn't make it true.
Sir Leigh Teabing
No. But history, she does make it true! Now, listen to this. It's from the ].
[[Gospel of Philip|Gospel according to Philip]
Sophie Neveu
Philip?
Sir Leigh Teabing
Yes, it was rejected at the Council of Nicea, along with any other gospels that made Jesus appear human and not divine. "And the companion of the Saviour was Mary Magdalene. Christ loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her on -
[reading from a book]
Sophie Neveu
But this says nothing of marriage!
[interrupting]
Sir Leigh Teabing
Well, actually, um, Robert...?
Robert Langdon
Actually, in those days, the word "companion" literally meant "spouse".
Sir Leigh Teabing
And this is from the gospel of Mary Magdalene herself.
[crossing the room to another book on a lectern]
Sophie Neveu
She wrote a gospel?
Robert Langdon
She may have.
Sir Leigh Teabing
Robert, will you fight fair?
Robert Langdon
She may have.
Sir Leigh Teabing
And Peter said, does He prefer her to us? And Levi answered, Peter, I see you contending against a woman like an adversary. If the Saviour made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her?!'" Yes. And then, my dear, Jesus goes on to tell Mary Magdalene that it's up to her to continue His Church. Mary Magdalene. Not Peter. The Church was supposed to be carried on by...a woman. Few realise that Mary was descended from kings, just as her husband was. Now, my dear, the word in French for "holy grail".
[reading; To Sophie; He sits down and illuminates figures on the screen.]
Sophie Neveu
Le Sangrine.
Sir Leigh Teabing
From the Middle English, "Sangreal", of the original Arthurian legend. Now, as two words. Can you translate for our friend?
[He writes the word on the screen, using his tablet.; He divides it into two four-letter words.]
Sophie Neveu
Sang Real, it means "royal blood".
Sir Leigh Teabing
When the legend speaks of the chalice that held the blood of Christ, it speaks, in fact, of the female womb that held Jesus royal bloodline.
Sophie Neveu
But how could Christ have a bloodline, unless...
Sir Leigh Teabing
Mary was pregnant at the time of the Crucifixion. For her own safety, and for that of Christ's unborn child, she fled the Holy Land and came to ]. And here, it is said that she gave birth to a daughter, Sarah.
[He gets up.; [France]
Sophie Neveu
They know the child's name?
Robert Langdon
A little girl.
Sir Leigh Teabing
Yes.
Robert Langdon
If that were true, it's adding insult to injury.
Sophie Neveu
Why?
Robert Langdon
The ] found transcendence through the joining of male and female.
[[Paganism|Pagans]
Sophie Neveu
People found God through ]?
[[sex]
Robert Langdon
In Paganism, women were worshipped, as a route to ], but, the modern church has a monopoly on that, in ] through Jesus Christ.
[[Heaven; [salvation]
Sir Leigh Teabing
And he who keeps the keys to Heaven rules the world.
Robert Langdon
Women, then, are a huge threat to the Church. The Catholic Inquisition soon publishes what may be the most blood-soaked book in human history.
Sir Leigh Teabing
The ]!
[[Malleus Maleficarum; He throws a book at Langdon, who catches it.]
Robert Langdon
The Witches Hammer.
Sir Leigh Teabing
It instructed the clergy on how to locate, torture and kill all free-thinking women.
Robert Langdon
Over three centuries of witch-hunts, fifty thousand women are captured and burned alive at the stake.
Sir Leigh Teabing
Oh, at least that! Some say millions! Imagine then, Robert, that Christ's Throne might live on in a female child? You asked what would be worth killing for. Witness the greatest coverup in human history. This is the secret the Priory of Sion has defended for over twenty centuries. They are the guardians of the royal bloodline, keepers of the proof of our true past. They are the protectors of the descendants of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene.
[To Sophie]
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Anagram Revelation in The Da Vinci Code
Robert Langdon
Anagram is right. O Draconian Devil! Oh lame saint! becomes Leonardo da Vinci, The Mona Lisa
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Struggling to Comprehend the Situation
Robert Langdon
I'm into something here that I cannot understand.
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Responsibility and the Pursuit of Duty
Bishop Aringarosa
I cannot be implicated here, there are still important works to be done
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Pursuing Truth and Hidden Codes
Tag lines
Seek the truth, seek the codes.
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A Biblical Reference in Conversation
Silas
Job 38:11, you know it, Sister
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Urgent Medical Appointment Amidst Police Encounter
Sir Leigh Teabing
(After landing in Kent, to local police) I have a medical appointment to go to, sir. If you wish to keep us here longer, you'll just have to shoot us. (Points at Remy) You can start with him.
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The Legacy of Mary Magdalene and Her Protectors
Sophie Neveu
What happened to her?
Sir Leigh Teabing
No one knows. Mary Magdalene lived out her days in hiding. And the zealots pursued her still... even in death, trying to destroy proof of her existence. But she always had her Knights. Brave men sworn to defend her. You see, to worship before her sarcophagus... to kneel before the bones of Mary Magdalene was to remember all those who were robbed of their power... who were oppressed. Ultimately, the Priory hid her remains and the proof of her bloodline... until most believed her sarcophagus... the Holy Grail was finally lost in time.
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Debating Historical Religious Influences and Conflicts
Sir Leigh Teabing
The Good Book did not arrive by facsimile from heaven. The Bible, as we know it, was finally presided over by one man. The ] emperor ].
[[w:Pagan|Pagan; [Constantine the Great|Constantine]
Sophie Neveu
I thought Constantine was a Christian.
Sir Leigh Teabing
Oh, hardly, no. He was a lifelong Pagan who was baptized on his deathbed. Constantine was Rome's supreme holy man. From time immemorial, his people had worshipped a balance between nature's male deities and the goddess, or sacred feminine. But a religious turmoil was gripping Rome. Three centuries earlier a young Jew named Jesus had come along, preaching love and a single God. Centuries after his crucifixion, Christ's followers had grown exponentially, and had started a religious war against the Pagans.
Robert Langdon
Or was it the Pagans who commenced making war against the Christians? Leigh, we can't be sure who began the atrocities of that period.
Sir Leigh Teabing
Well, we can agree that the conflict grew to such proportion that it threatened to tear Rome in two. So, Constantine may have been a lifelong Pagan but he was also a pragmatist. And in ] Anno Domini he decided to unify Rome under a single religion, Christianity.
[[w:325AD|325]
Robert Langdon
Christianity was on the rise, he didn't want his empire torn apart.
Sir Leigh Teabing
And to strengthen this new Christian tradition, Constantine held a famous ecumenical gathering known as the ], and at this council the many sects of Christianity debated and voted on well, everything from the acceptance and rejection of specific gospels to the date for Easter to the ministry of ], and of course, the ].
[[w:Council of Nicaea|Council of Nicaea; [w:sacraments|sacrament; [w:Christology|immortality of Jesus]
Sophie Neveu
I don't follow.
Sir Leigh Teabing
Ma Chère, until that moment in history ] was viewed by many of his followers as a mighty prophet, as a great and powerful man, but a man nevertheless. A mortal man.
[[Jesus]
Robert Langdon
Some Christians held that Jesus was mortal. Some Christians believed he was divine.
Sophie Neveu
Not the Son of God?
Sir Leigh Teabing
Not even his nephew twice removed.
Sophie Neveu
Hold on, you're saying Jesus divinity came from a vote?
Sir Leigh Teabing
Remember, in those days gods were everywhere. By infusing Jesus the man with divine magic, making him capable of earthly miracles and his own resurrection, Constantine turned him into a god within the human world. He basically knocked the more distant gods out of the game.
Robert Langdon
Constantine did not create Jesus divinity. He simply sanctioned an already widely held idea.
Sir Leigh Teabing
Semantics.
Robert Langdon
No, it's not semantics. You're interpreting facts to support your own conclusions!
Sir Leigh Teabing
Fact: for many Christians, Jesus was mortal one day and divine the next!
[angrily]
Robert Langdon
For a few Christians, Jesus had his divinity enhanced!
Sir Leigh Teabing
Absurd! There was even a formal announcement of his promotion.
Robert Langdon
They couldn't even agree on the Nicene Creed!
Sophie Neveu
Excuse me! "Who is God, who is man?" How many have been murdered over this question?
Sir Leigh Teabing
As long as there has been One True God, there has been killing in His name. Now, let me show you the Grail.
[he draws his crutches off the table, and uses them to prepare to stand up; he stands up]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Challenge of Decoding Mysteries
Sophie Neveu
Any ideas, Professor?
Robert Langdon
You-you could have just handed me a piece of the UFO from Area 51.
Sophie Neveu
What's the next step?" With him, it's always "Sophie, what's the next step?" Puzzles, codes...
Robert Langdon
A treasure hunt.
Sophie Neveu
To find his killer.
Sophie Neveu
Maybe there is something about this Priory of Sion.
Robert Langdon
I hope not. Any Priory story ends in bloodshed. They were butchered by the Church. It all started over a thousand years ago when a French king conquered the holy city of Jerusalem. This crusade, one of the most massive and sweeping in history was actually orchestrated by a secret brotherhood: the Priory of Sion and their military arm, the Knights Templar.
Sophie Neveu
But the Templars were created to protect the Holy Land.
Robert Langdon
That was a cover to hide their true goal, according to this myth. Supposedly the invasion was to find an artefact lost since the time of Christ. An artifact, it was said, the Church would kill to possess.
Sophie Neveu
Did they find it, this buried treasure?
Robert Langdon
Put it this way: One day the Templars simply stopped searching. They quit the Holy Land and traveled directly to Rome. Whether they blackmailed the papacy or the Church bought their silence, no one knows. But it is a fact the papacy declared these Priory knights, these Knights Templar, of limitless power. By the 1300s, the Templars had grown too powerful. Too threatening. So the Vatican issued secret orders to be opened simultaneously all across Europe. The Pope had declared the Knights Templar, Satan worshipers and said God had charged him with cleansing the earth of these heretics. The plan went off like clockwork. The Templars were all but exterminated. The date was October 13th, 1307. A Friday.
Sophie Neveu
]...
[[Friday the 13th]
Robert Langdon
The Pope sent troops to claim the Priory's treasure but they found nothing. The few surviving Knights of the Priory had vanished and the search for their sacred artifact began again.
Sophie Neveu
What artifact? I've never heard about any of this.
Robert Langdon
Yes, you have. Almost everyone on Earth has. You just know it as the ].
[[Holy Grail]
Sophie Neveu
Please, Saunière thought he knew the location of the Holy Grail?
Robert Langdon
May be more than that. This cross and the flower, this-this could be very real, but look. This metal, here, underneath, is much newer and there's a modern ID stamp. "HAXO 24". These dots...these dots are read by a laser. This is more than a pendant, this is a key your grandfather left you.
Sophie Neveu
He left us, Professor.
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Demand for Hidden Truths
Silas
Stop now, tell me where it is! You and your brethren possess that which is not rightfully yours.
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Pursuit of Truth
Tag lines
Seek The Truth
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The Quest for Truth and Understanding
Robert Langdon
Understanding our past determines actively our ability to understand the present. So, how do we sift truth from belief? How do we write our own histories, personally or culturally, and thereby define ourselves? How do we penetrate years, centuries, of historical distortion to find original truth? Tonight, this will be our quest.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Deception of Humanity Explored
Tag lines
So Dark The Con of Man
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Art and History in Conversation
Sir Leigh Teabing
This used to be the ballroom. I have little occasions to dance these days. I trust you recognise The Last Supper, the great fresco, by Leonardo Da Vinci. My dear, if you would close your eyes?
[To Sophie]
Robert Langdon
Leigh, save us the parlour tricks.
Sir Leigh Teabing
You asked for my help, I recall. Allow an old man his indulgences. And Mademoiselle, where is Jesus sitting?
[To Sophie, who has closed her eyes]
Sophie Neveu
In the middle.
Sir Leigh Teabing
Good. He and His disciples are breaking bread. And...what drink?
Sophie Neveu
Wine. They drunk wine.
Sir Leigh Teabing
Splendid. And one final question: how many wine glasses are there on the table?
Sophie Neveu
One? The Holy Grail.
Sir Leigh Teabing
Open your eyes. No single cup. No chalice. Well, that's a bit strange, isn't it? Considering both the Bible and standard Grail legend celebrate this moment as the definitive arrival of the Holy Grail. Hmmm. Now, Robert, you could be of help to us. If you'd be so kind as to show us the symbols for man and woman?
[Sophie does so, and looks at the screen the painting is being displayed on; To Robert]
Robert Langdon
No balloon animals? I can make a great duck. This is the original icon for male. It's a rudimentary phallus.
[He presses his fingertips together, keeping his hands apart]
Sophie Neveu
Quite to the point.
Sir Leigh Teabing
Yes, indeed.
Robert Langdon
This was known as the "blade". It represents aggression and manhood. It's a symbol still used today in modern military uniforms.
Sir Leigh Teabing
Yes, the more penises you have, the higher your rank. Boys will be boys!
Robert Langdon
Now, as you can imagine, the female symbol is its exact opposite. This is called the "chalice".
[He pressees the heels of his hands together, keeping his fingers apart, in the shape of a begging bowl]
Sir Leigh Teabing
And the chalice resembles a cup, or vessel, or, more importantly, the shape of a woman's womb. No, the Grail has never been a cup! It is, quite literally, this ancient symbol of womanhood. And in this case, a woman who carried a secret so powerful that if revealed, it would devastate the very foundations of Christianity.
[Also making the shape with his hands]
Sophie Neveu
Wait, please. You're saying the Holy Grail is a person...a woman?
Sir Leigh Teabing
And it turns out, she makes an appearance, right there.
[Pointing at the screen, still showing the painting]
Sophie Neveu
But they are all men,
Sir Leigh Teabing
Are they? What about that figure on the right hand of Our Lord, seated in the place of honour? Flowing red hair, folded feminine hands, hint of a bosum, no?
[As Sophie approaches the screen, which now shows the figure seated on Jesus' right hand side, supposedly [[John the Evangelist|the Apostle John]
Sophie Neveu
Incroyable!
Sir Leigh Teabing
It's called scotoma. The mind sees what it chooses to see.
[He replies to Sophie in French, then addresses her and Robert in English]
Sophie Neveu
Who is she?
Sir Leigh Teabing
My dear, that's Mary Magdalene.
Sophie Neveu
The prostitute?
Sir Leigh Teabing
She was no such thing! Smeared by the church in 592, Anno Domini, poor dear. Magdalene was Jesus wife.
[Offended; Puts his tablet aside]
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A Ghost's Final Revelation
Silas
(Final lines) Soy un fantasma!
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The History of Violence in Faith
Sir Leigh Teabing
As long as there has been One True God, there has been killing in His name.
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