“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.” — Plato Read more fun facts about philosophers. Read more fun facts about Greece.
The Motivation of the Wise and Foolish to Speak
The Tragic Tale of Pythagoras and the Deadly Beans
Pythagoras (c. 570 – c. 495 B.C.) is most-commonly remembered for the geometric formula that bears his name. What is less-well remembered about him is the way beans contributed to his untimely […]
Meet Diogenes: the Man Plato Described as “Socrates Gone Mad”
Diogenes (c. 412 BC – 323 BC) was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynic philosophy. He urged his followers to live as simply as possible. He may also […]
A Fool and His Chains
Voltaire did not suffer fools gladly, nor did he hold out much hope of freeing them from their foolish condition. The 18th century French writer and philosopher once famously observed, “It is […]
A Birth on the Way to the Burial
Greek philosopher Gorgias of Epirus (c. 485 BC – c. 380 BC) narrowly avoided being buried alive on the first day of his life. Gorgias was born inside his recently-deceased mother’s coffin. […]
This Word for a Tasty Dish is a Real Mouthful
Aristophanes (427 BC – 386 BC) was groundbreaking with his plays. His skills as a satirist and as a keen observer of everyday life led him to give us one of the […]
“The Fork” Dishes Up Colorful Insult
Søren Kierkegaard earned the nickname “The Fork” in his youth, due to his ability to identify an opponent’s weaknesses and stick it to him. Generally this took the form of surgical strikes […]
When You Win By Losing … Or Do You Lose By Winning?
An act of charity by one of the fathers of modern thought led to one of the greatest paradoxes of legal and philosophical history. Protagoras was one of the early great thinkers […]
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