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簡介：符號學家Robert Langdon受邀參加在國會大廈的一場演講，講座過後發現其導師Peter Solomon的手，手上的手勢與刺青結合成為一種古老的符號，表示「邀請」受邀者進入一個失落已久的智慧世界。Langdon意識到Peter已被人綁架，若想救出導師，就必須接受這個神秘的邀請並解開謎團。解密的關鍵在於金字塔，石盒和尖頂石上的銘文，透過Langdon對於符號學，藝術及科學的理解，Langdon最終發現共濟會所守護的秘密就是聖經。作者認為人類本身就有很大的潛能，只要人類能發覺這一點，就不必追尋上帝，因為人類皆是意念強大的造物主。

心得：這算是我第一本完整閱讀過的英文小說！本身就蠻喜歡Dan Brown的作品如《達文西密碼》和《天使與魔鬼》，然而都只有看過電影，沒有閱讀過完整的小說篇章，因此選擇本書開始閱讀。故事非常緊湊且是多線並行發展的，這使我完全停不下來，想要一口氣知道接下來的故事發展，而這也是作者的風格之一，故事往往在一天之內就有高潮迭起的變化，使讀者欲罷不能的閱讀下去。書中提及『意念科學』此一學科，意思是人的思想、信仰與靈魂等精神層面具有質量及能量，透過適當的訓練便可以運用在各種各樣的生活事務中，產生巨大的災難或是好處，換句話說，每個人都是自己心中的神明，只要擁有堅定的信念和理想，並且堅信自己可以改變，那自己的世界一定會有所不同。

書摘：

  1. History, if it has taught us anything at all, has taught us that the strange ideas we deride today will one day be our celebrated truths.
  2. Albert Einstein：That which is impenetrable to us really exists. Behind the secrets of nature remains something subtle, intangible, and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion.
  3. From the Crusades, to the Inquisition, to American politics—the name Jesus had been hijacked as an ally in all kinds of power struggles.
  4. Electromuscular disruption—The excruciating jolt of pain seemed to penetrate every molecule of his body. despite his mind’s focused intention, his muscles refused to obey the command he was sending them.
  5. The concept of “life after death,” she came to accept, was a human construct, a fairy tale designed to soften the horrifying truth that was our mortality.
  6. All of mankind’s disparate philosophies have all concurred on one thing—that a great enlightenment is coming.
  7. Man’s apathy was the fertile ground in which the dark spirits tended their seeds.
  8. The mysteries are all about the god within you, man as god. The Bible is all about the God above you and man as a powerless sinner.
  9. The only difference between you and God is that you have forgotten you are divine.
  10. It’s prophetic, really. Today, man’s most advanced inventions are being used to study man’s most ancient ideas.
  11. Since the beginning of time, the ignorant had always screamed the loudest, herding the unsuspecting masses and forcing them to do their bidding. They defended their worldly desires by citing Scripture they did not understand. They celebrated their intolerance as proof of their convictions. Now, after all these years, mankind had finally managed to utterly erode everything that had once been so beautiful about Jesus.
  12. Temple is code for ‘body.’ Heaven is code for ‘mind.’ Jacob’s ladder is your spine. And manna is this rare brain secretion. When you see these code words in Scripture, pay attention. They are often markers for a more profound meaning concealed beneath the surface.
  13. How every culture, in every country, in every time, had always shared one thing. We all had the Creator. We used different names, different faces, and different prayers, but God was the universal constant for man. God was the symbol we all shared and the symbol of all the mysteries of life that we could not understand.

上述喜愛的段落及句子皆節錄自：

書名：The Lost Symbol 作者：Dan Brown 出版：Doubleday