Like an Egyptian pharaoh, who built a pyramid to be the abode of his body, with a view to future life, the powerful Romanian princes built monasteries to rest and keep their bones till Doomsday. Their unflinching faith in the immortality of the soul drove them to these pious deeds which were supposed to uphold them on Judgment Day and ensure them a place in the kingdom of eternal bliss.
The Psychology of the Romanian People, 1907
by Dumitru Drăghicescu (1875-1945)