1. “I did not write half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed” – Marco Polo
2. “And when the Old Man wished to kill someone, he would take him and say: “Go and do this thing. I do this because I want to make you return to paradise.” And the assassins go and perform the deed willingly.” – Marco Polo
3. “One of these nuts is a meal for a man, both meat and drink.” – Marco Polo
4. “The personal appearance of the Great Kaan, Lord of Lords, whose name is Cublay, is such as I shall now tell you.” – Marco Polo
5. “If you put together all the Christians in the world, with their Emperors and their Kings, the whole of these Christians, – aye, and throw in the Saracens to boot, – would not have such power, or be able to do so much as this Kublai, who is Lord of all the Tartars in the world.” – Marco Polo
6. “When any poor man begged of them, they would tell him, “Go with God’s curse, for if He loved you as He loves me, He would have provided for you.” – Marco Polo
7. “The true sweetness of wine is one flavor.” – Marco Polo
8. “Here people was once used to be honourable: now they are all bad; they have kept one goodness: that they are greatest boozers.” – Marco Polo
9. “My heart beats as much as I can breathe.” – Marco Polo
10. “These people of Tibet are an ill-conditioned race. They have mastiff dogs as big as donkeys, which are capital at seizing wild beasts.” – Marco Polo
11. “They stormed a tower belonging to some of the islanders who refused to surrender, and they cut off the heads of all the garrison except eight.” – Marco Polo
12. “And nobody, however important he may think himself, dares to refuse them on pain of death.” – Marco Polo
13. “Yeah, I pretty much never sit by the pool anymore.” – Marco Polo
14. “Without stones, there is no arch.” – Marco Polo
15. “The Emperor himself is carried upon four elephants in a fine chamber made of timber, lined inside with plates of beaten gold, and outside with lion’s skins.” – Marco Polo
16. “In the summer-time, indeed, you will fall in with people, but in the winter, the cold is too great.” – Marco Polo
17. “The law which their prophet Mohamed has given to muslims is that any harm done to any one who does not accept their law and any appropriation of his goods, is no sin at all.” – Marco Polo
18. “You will hear it for yourself, and it will surely fill you with wonder.” – Marco Polo
19. “They have the mouth and nose muffled with fine napkins of silk and gold so that no breath nor odor from their persons should taint the dish or the goblet presented to the Lord. And when the Emperor is going to drink, all the musical instruments, of which he has vast store of every kind, begin to play.” – Marco Polo
20. “Without stones there is no arch.” – Marco Polo
21. “The militant Muslim is the person who beheads the infidel, while the moderate Muslim holds the feet of the victim.” – Marco Polo
22. “Anyone forging it would be punished with death.” – Marco Polo
23. “I have not told the half of what I saw.” – Marco Polo
24. “I speak and speak, […] but the listener retains only the words he is expecting. […] It is not the voice that commands the story: it is the ear.” – Marco Polo
25. “You must know that on this Island, there are the best enchanters in the world. It is true that their Archbishop forbids the practice to the best of his ability; but ’tis all to no purpose, for they insist that their forefathers followed it, and so must they also.” – Marco Polo
26. “The people are Idolaters, use paper money, and are subject to the Great Kaan. They live by trade and handicrafts, and they have plenty of silk.” – Marco Polo
27. “The personal appearance of the Great Kaan, Lord of Lords, whose name is Cublay, is such as I shall now tell you.” – Marco Polo