Antonio de Marchena Quotes in 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)

Antonio de Marchena: You are a passionate man, Sir. Columbus.

Antonio de Marchena: [Reading from a letter] "And therefore nothing could justify the participation of your Majesties on a venture that relies on such feeble assumptions and which any man of knowledge would take to be impractical, if not impossible.

Columbus: They didn't listen. They don't want to listen.

Antonio de Marchena: You mustn't give way to despair. You must wait.

Columbus: Wait? I've waited seven years already! How much longer do you want me to wait?

Antonio de Marchena: If God intends you to go, you will go.

Columbus: Damn God! Damn of all of you! You all sit at your desks concocting theories! Based on what? You never leave the protection of your gardens. Go out! Find out what the world is about and then tell me something I can accept.

Columbus: I believe the Indies are no more than 750 leagues west of the Canary Islands.

Antonio de Marchena: How can you be so certain?

Columbus: The calculations of Toscanelli, Marin de Tyr, Esdras...

Antonio de Marchena: Esdras is a Jew...

Columbus: So was Christ.

Antonio de Marchena: Two minutes and you're already a dead man.

Columbus: For telling the truth?

Antonio de Marchena: Yes. They are burning people for less. The men you are about the confront have no emotions. You must learn to control your passion.

Columbus: Passion is something one cannot control.