In several temples of the ancients, the statues of Cybele were only a piece of stone, meant to represent the stability of the earth. […] Hope alone remained at the bottom, and that only has the power of easing the labours of man, and rendering his troubles less painful. […] Nor was this the only instance of the vengeance of the Goddess, who was irritable, and prompt to punish. […] Scarcely knowing even if he were a God, or only the name or symbol whereby to represent an immutable and unchangeable law. […] She was indeed the only one of all the divinities whose authority, and consequence, were equal to those of Jupiter.