Could be used for a diverse range of topics

"Eppur si mouve"

Could be used for a diverse range of topics- courage of conviction, steadfastness, honesty- use your imagination. Works well as an essay intro too.

"Eppur si mouve"

-(but the earth does move)

Galileo's observation absolutely proved the Ptolemaic system wrong. In subsequent years he published a full-blown refutation of the Ptolemaic system on many fronts.

The church was not at all happy with this, since it had long adopted the Ptolemaic universe as part of it's dogma. Moreover, Galileo published in Italian, the language of the

people, rather than Latin, the language of the scholars, thereby presenting an even more dangerous threat. The inquisition charged Galileo with "a vehement suspicion of heresy".

After being shown the instruments of torture Galileo was forced to recant his work.

He spent the last 9 years of his life under house arrest in his Villa near Florence, during which time he continued scientific work and received many important visitors.

Galileo died in 1642 and was buried at church of Santa Croce (Florence) next to Michaelangelo & Machiavelli. The epitaph he had placed on his tombstone was "eppur Si muove" or "But the Earth does move!"