Table of Contents

Commonplace I - Interesting Things - 2020

Manilius, Astronomica 67-84

https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2021/01/20/knowledge-cooperation-and-the-common-good-3/

“Humanity waited, thunderstruck by the new light in the sky, First grieving as it disappeared, then overjoyed at its return. The human race was incapable of understanding the reasons Why the sun rose so frequently once it sent the stars In flight, why the length of days and nights was uncertain And why the shadows changed too as the sun moved farther away.

Stubborn obsession had not yet taught humankind knowledge and skill And the land was resting open at the hands of untrained farmers. At that time gold was resting in untouched mountains And the untroubled sea hid strange worlds— For the human race did not dare to risk life In the waves or wind—people believed that they did not know enough.

But the passage of long days sharpened mortal thought And hard work produced invention for the miserable Just as each person’s luck compelled him to turn to himself to make life better. Then, they competed with each other once their interests were divided And whatever wisdom practice found through testing, They happily shared for the common good.”

Jewish God Yahweh Originated in Canaanite Vulcan, Says New Theory

The cult of YHWH as god of metallurgy originated among semi-nomadic copper smelters between the Bronze and Iron Age, suggests biblical scholar: And he was not worshipped only by Jews.

Yahweh’s metallurgical attributes were also on display in the pillar of fire and smoke by which he guides the Hebrews in the desert (Exodus 13:21) and the cloud that accompanies his visits to the Tent of Meeting (Exodus 33:9-10), a simpler version of the Tabernacle in which Moses speaks face to face with God.

Ancient DNA Sheds New Light on the Biblical Philistines

The results showed that the four Iron Age infants all had some genetic signatures matching those seen in Iron Age populations from Greece, Spain and Sardinia. “There was some gene flow coming in that was not there before,” Feldman says.

The Arabian Nights - Penguin Vol. 1 - pp. 180

The blind man may escape a pit
In which the man of keen sight will be trapped.
The ignorant may not be injured by the word
That brings destruction to the clever men. A believer may find it hard to earn his daily bread,
Unlike the unbeliever and the libertine.
Of what use are man's actions and his schemes?
What happens is what fate decrees for them.\\1)

The Arabian Nights - Penguin Vol. 1 - pp. 183

I then knocked at the door and out came two young girls with swelling breasts, virgins like moons. 'Come in,' they said. 'Our mistress is expecting you, and she did not sleep last night, so pleased was she with you.' I entered a vaulted hall with seven doors, round which were windows overlooking a garden with fruits of all kinds, gushing waters and singing birds. The walls were treated with sultani gypsum in which a man could see his own face, while the ceiling was ornamented with gold, showing inscriptions in lapis lazuli, encompassing all the qualities of beauty and dazzling those who looked at it. The floor was laid with variegated marble and strewn with carpets, coloured silks and mattresses, while in the centre was a fountain, at whose corners were birds made of pearls and other gems.2)

Vico's Uncanny Humanism - Sandra Rudnick Luft - Preface xiii

In the context of metaphysics's privileging of the pursuit of knowledge, all other forms of mediation with the world-doing (praxis), making (poiesis), the interpretive mediation of language-were devalued.

The Arabian Nights - Penguin Vol. 1

They all continued to lead the most pleasant and delightful of lives until they met death, the destroyer of delights and the parter of companions.

The Arabian Nights - Penguin Vol. 1

'By God, you donkey's tail,' I said, 'you go on and on speechifying and talking more and more, while all I want is for you to cut my hair and leave.'

Imitation of Christ - On the Lack of all Comfort - Thomas á Kempis

The devil never sleeps, neither is the flesh dead; therefore you must always be prepared to do battle, for you are surrounded by enemies that never rest.

The Arabian Nights - Penguin Vol. 1

God in His bounty has provided you with a barber who is also an astrologer, a chemist, an expert in grammar, morphology, philology, rhetoric, eloquence, arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, religious law, the traditions of the Prophet and the interpretation of the Quran. I have read relevant books and studied them; I have a practical knowledge of relevant committed to heart a perfect knowledge of the sciences; I am theoretical and practical master of technical skill. There is nothing I have not organized and undertaken.

1) , 2)
Lyons, M C, U Lyons, and Robert Irwin. The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights. London: Penguin, 2010. Print.