“Dogs bark at whomsoever they do not recognize” (translated by T. M. Robinson) This aphorism from Heraclitus (fl. c. 500 B.C.E.) suggests many humans are like dogs insofar as they “bark” at that which they think is different. They bark… Read more ›
Consider an aphorism attributed to Heraclitus of Epheseus (active circa 500 BC): “They do not understand how, while being at variance, it is in agreement with itself. There is a back-turning connection, like that of a bow or lyre” (frag.… Read more ›
In his book Zarathustra, Nietzsche has his character Zarathustraboldly tell of a thawing wind which reveals that all is in flux: “When the water hath planks, when gangways and railings o’erspan the stream, verily, he is not believed who then… Read more ›
Many of us think that virtue is connected with measure. Vice arises when people are excessive or deficient with regard to their emotions and actions. For example, a character disposition to get excessively angry at the wrong time, toward the… Read more ›
I suspect that anyone who writes on the subject of death has a moment when he or she wonders whether it is better to agree with the Zen monk Toko who, in his dying moment, tells us in a death… Read more ›