Aztecs Quotes

The king must never appear in public except when the occasion is extremely important or unavoidable.

Here no one fears to die in war … keep this in mind, you princes who would attack Tenochtitlan.

We have discovered a land rich in gold, pearls, and other things … There are in the city many large and beautiful houses … and pleasant gardens …. Two great aqueducts made of mortar … The people are dressed with elegance and [have a ] courtly bearing …. Considering that these people are barbarous, lacking knowledge of God and communication with other civilized nations, it is remarkable to see all that they have.

That was when the Spanish came in and conquered the Aztecs. I thought that was a clever thing.

Your ruler, the lord of men implores you. We are not equal to the Spaniards. Abandon the battle.

The Spanish culture taught is that having titles of nobility was the way to get rich. But the Aztecs and the indigenous cultures taught us the same thing.

All the arts: military, religious, mechanical and astrological, which gave them [the Aztecs] of the stars. For this they possessed large, beautiful books painted in hieroglyphics, dealing with all these arts which were used for teaching.

[W]e can be certain that, though preached to more than fifty years, if they [the Aztecs] were now left alone, if the Spanish nation were not to intercede, I am certain that in less than fifty years there would be no trace of the preaching which has been done for them.

The good ruler is a protector; one who carries his subjects in his arms, who unites them, who brings them together. He rules. He takes responsibilities...

Commoners are not allowed to wear cotton clothing, under pain of death.

Only great noblemen and valiant warriors are given license to build a home with a second story; for disobeying this law the penalty is death.

Adulterers … are to be stoned and thrown into the rivers or to the buzzards.

The Aztecs conducted sacrifices as a matter of course and often accumulated the skulls of their victims on racks outside their cities. One Conquistador wrote of a rack outside of Tenochtitlan with about 136,000 skulls.

Moviewise, I would love to make the story of princess Erendira. She was a 16 year old princess/warrior who led her tribe in war against the Spanish around 1513. She almost defeated them, and the Tarascans were the only tribe the Aztecs couldn't defeat.

We saw … shrines in these cities that looked like gleaming white towers and castles: a marvelous sight.