We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. - Aristotle
Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology. Together with Plato and Socrates (Plato's teacher), Aristotle is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. Aristotle's writings were the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality and aesthetics, logic and science, politics and metaphysics.
In regard to the bust of Aristotle, there appears to be agreement among the sculptors and other illustrators of Aristotle that he had a mouth that looked like that. I have a suspicion that it is a true thing, that we at least know what Aristotle's mouth looked like. Most agree he had a beard and wore his hair in the classic Greek style. I wear my hair like that too. I have a beard too. I am not Aristotle. I am not even Greek. When I started wearing my hair this way, after shearing off my long hair in 1973, I was conscious that I was choosing Greco-Roman hair. It is also easy hair. I fuss with it one time a day.
It may be true that the government that governs best governs least. Unfortunately, the same is also true of the government that governs worst. - Jane Elizabeth Auer
This woman has made so little impression on the internet world that while this quote exists and is attributed to her, nothing else does with anything remotely like certainty. This, by the way, is no criticism. I do not think having presence on the internet is required unless you see it so.
Ruminations
So I've been thinking
maybe my muzzle's too white,
revealing my age.
My bones creak louder
than snails that crawl along stems
and leave trails of slime.
I shall bound forward
nonetheless, leaning into
the long afternoon.
November 28, 2009 1:19 AM
Aristotle's works and words are still relevant and thoughtful.
ReplyDeleteYour poem reminds me of lazy long afternoon. Have a good weekend~
Aristotle is not my favorite though he is all of that, what Wiki says about him. He is certainly as documented and anchored in Western Civilization as any ancient man can be. There is no one more certainly present on the world's historical stage from 300 BC. That is one reason I believe that at least Aristotle's mouth is captured for us in the busts we have.
ReplyDeleteAnd that particular quote is absolutely and completely true as any musician knows. It is important to save the baby no matter what one does with the bathwater. I am Socratic enough in method, but I am neither Platonic nor Aristotelian in sentiment. I dwell in fantasy and mythos true enough, but not in idealism nor in formalism.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope we become friends. I have a feeling you are heart rich.