Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Saturday, July 23. 2022

Ἐγγύα πάρα δ' Ἄτα.


There are three sentences of wisdom engraved on the temple of Apollo at Delphi.


Everybody knows the first two:


1. Know thyself (seems dangerous)


2.Everything in moderation. (Yes, I know the joke about that one - everything in moderation including moderation.)


3. The third is more subtle, and seems to be variously translated. It's in the direction of "certainty is dangerous", or "surety leads to ruin," or "certainty is insanity." Seems like a warning about hubris.


The topic came up on an Althouse post. 


Posted by The Barrister at 13:20 | Comments (5) | Trackbacks (0)

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I have it on authority of a classical languages scholar friend of mine, that #2 translates more clsoely as "All things in right measure" or "all things in their measure." It carries the sense of everything has a time and a place as much as the more traditionally ascribed meaning of not too much of bad things or too little of good things.
#1 Another Guy Named Dan on 2022-07-23 13:42 (Reply)
Of one thing I'm certain.
Umm, never mind, by the way can you please delete this comment, PLEASE.
#2 u.k.(us) on 2022-07-23 14:07 (Reply)
Know thyself . Isn't that Alexander Pope ?
#3 treefroggy (Link) on 2022-07-23 15:40 (Reply)
Settled Science
#4 AlphaOmega on 2022-07-23 19:44 (Reply)
All three have always made intuitive sense to me (nothing has changed in human nature in all these centuries). The third, especially, can be read as a concise summary of the "scientific attitude": Certainty is impossible even in principle; all we can hope for is a continual refinement of our guesses and surmises. Inasmuch as we are certain, we open ourselves to grave error. It cautions humility. Good advice for all of us--and especially for the scientists and "experts".
#5 Hairless Joe on 2022-07-24 09:07 (Reply)

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