Therefore it seems better to me, if it seems so to you, that we translate the books most needful for all men to know into the language we can all understand.
Forðy me ðyncð betre, ġif iow swæ ðyncð, ðæt we eac sum bec, ða ðe niedbeðearfosta sien eallum monnum to witanne, ðæt we ða on ðæt ġeðeode wenden ðe we ealle ġecnawan mæġen.
Politicians
Alfred the Great
King of Wessex (r. 871-899) and the only English-born monarch styled 'the Great'. He stopped the Viking conquest at Edington (878), built a network of fortified burhs and translated Latin classics into Old English.
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Alfred the Great's Other Quotes
When I remembered all this, I wondered greatly at the good wise men who once lived throughout England, and how lovingly they had translated learning into their own language.
I desired to live worthily while I lived, and after my life to leave to those who come after me the memory of good works.
Wisdom is the father of all virtues.