“Almost all Mongols recognize Queen Manduhai the Wise and Dayan Khan as the two greatest monarchs after Genghis Khan... The earlier queens faded from public memory but... For the first time since the collapse of the empire of Genghis Khan, she had managed to unite the tribes into a single, reconstituted nation... Their influence continues on the modern map of national boundaries, in the Buddhism of the modern day, and in the legacy of the Silk Route that became the prototype for the modern world system.”

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“as Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, he also launched a literary search for the elusive Genghis Khan and his daughter... In "The Squire's Tale," Genghis Khan's daughter, the fictional Canace, acquired magical power over humans and animals; she communicated with birds and knew the use of every plant.”

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“Chinese leaders used 5 strategies to win over ‘barbarians’ into the ‘true civilization:’ luxurious clothes to corrupt their eyes, delicious food to corrupt their mouths, beautiful women and music to corrupt their ears; massive buildings, slaves, and granaries to corrupt their appetites; and finally, wine and feasts to corrupt the minds of their leaders.”

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“Every society produces its own cultural conceits, a set of lies and delusions about itself that thrives in the face of all contrary evidence.”

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“In 20 years Genghis Khan conquered and ruled the largest empire in history [ ... ] far more people and territory then the Romans, Persians, Greeks, or Chinese had been able to do in centuries of sustained effort.”

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“Never before or since have women [the daughters of Genghis Khan] exercised so much power over so many people and ruled so much territory for a long as these women did.”

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“The balance of male and female became a guiding principle in Genghis Khan’s political strategy and tactics, as well as in his spiritual worldview.”

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“The censors who sliced the pages did not destroy the history; they only hampered our ability to see it... There are architectural tributes to the lives and importance of these women in enduring structures as varied as the Taj Mahal of India and the Great Wall of China. The music of Puccini, the plays of Schiller, the poetry of Chaucer, and even the dances of Mongolian wrestlers keep the stories alive.”

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“The early Mongol rulers clearly recognized that knowledge constituted their most potent weapon and controlling the flow of information served as their organizing principle.”

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“The poets preserved what the censors destroyed.”

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“The truth may be hard to find, but it is out there—somewhere. If we do not continue the work, the truth remains hidden. If we stop the search, then the censor has defeated us.”

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“Today, when Mongolian men wrestle, they wear a particular vest with a completely open front—in honor and fear of Khutulun—to prove that he is genuinely male... History may have turned its back on the queens of the Mongols, but the people have never forgotten their heroines.”

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