How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Sophie found herself again glancing at Langdon, who again nodded. She turned back to Teabing.
"But why would the early Church care if Magdalene had royal blood?"
The Briton smiled. "My dear child, it was not Mary Magdalene's royal blood that concerned the Church so much as it was her consorting with Christ, who also had royal blood. As you know, the Book of Matthew tells us that Jesus was of the House of David. A descendant of King Solomon— King of the Jews. By marrying into the powerful House of Benjamin, Jesus fused two royal bloodlines, creating a potent political union with the potential of making a legitimate claim to the throne and restoring the line of kings as it was under Solomon." (58.90-91)
For those of us without extensive Biblical history backgrounds, this can be pretty confusing. We are forced to just kind of take Dan Brown's word for it, which can be iffy when the author is known to take a bunch of liberties for the sake of fiction. (Not that that's a bad thing! The book would be far less interesting if he didn't.)
Quote #8
"Meaning that history is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books – books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, "What is history, but a fable agreed upon?" (60.37)
And when you are the group in power that gets to write the history books, your power becomes further cemented over time with the perpetuation of your version of history. What a diabolical cycle.
Quote #9
"This monk is not working alone, Robert," Teabing said, "and until you learn who is behind all this, you both are in danger. The good news, my friend, is that you are now in the position of power. This monster behind me holds that information, and whoever is pulling his strings has got to be quite nervous right now." (67.31)
Teabing's speaking from a position of authority here, because he is the person pulling the strings (although we still don't know that at the time). Think he's actually nervous?