The Decameron [1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.3]

1) "He fixed Ser Ciappelletto so firmly in the minds and the devotions of all those who were present there that after the service was over, everyone pressed forward to kiss the hands and feet of the decease, and all his garments were torn off his corpse, since anyone who could get hold of a piece of them considered himself blessed."

This quote came from the first story of the first day of "The Decameron." I absolutely loved this story because I thought that it was so interesting how easily Ser Ciappelletto was able to get through the friar by lying. He had been known as one of the worst men ever known between his gambling and wickedness throughout the land and once he goes for confession, everything changes. He is a liar throughout the whole story, telling the friar that he has confessed every day, when really he has never even been to confession. This whole story is about trickery and the difference between genuine and fake statements.

2) "And let me say the same thing to you, my lord, concerning the three Laws given to three peoples by God our Father which are the subject of the question you put to me: each believes itself to be the true heir, to possess the true Law, and to follow the true commandments, but whoever is right, just as in the case of the rings, is still undecided."

This quote came from the third story of the first day. I thought that it was very clever the way that the Jewish man answered Saladin's question with a story. I love this quote because both the Jew and Saladin know that he did not answer the question the way that Saladin wanted him to, and to make a point as to the Jew's indifference on the subject, he says this quote. Like any other controversial issue, no one is completely right in what they say. There is no right and wrong between these three religions and there is no politically correct answer.

3) "The young girl, who was by no means as hard as iron or diamond, most willingly agreed to the Abbot's wishes. He took her in his arms and kissed her many times, then lay down on the mink's bed. And perhaps out of concern for the heavy weight of his dignified person and the tender age of the young girl he did not lie on top of her but rather placed her on top of him, and there he amused himself with her for quite a while."

This quote came from the fourth story on the first day. I thought that it was very interesting how quickly this monk's intentions changed from wanting to out the other monk for sleeping with the young girl, to actually deciding to sleep with her. I found it very interesting that in the passage, he says that the young girl was permitted to be on top during sex. It is a little bit of female empowerment, or control over the monk. This is significant because usually men are more dominant in these roles and I thought that it might've been a connection to his betrayal of his religion. Just like he is going against his religion, he is going against the common expectations of society.