So I'm down in the tomb of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. This is his gold wreath, and this the gold chest that held his bones—which, after his cremation, were carefully washed in wine.

Famous last words, Immanuel Kant: "Es ist gut," as he sipped on a glass of wine.

Duty! Sublime and mighty name... what origin is worthy of you? ... It is nothing other than personality, that is, freedom and independence from the mechanism of the whole of nature. —Immanuel Kant

Leibniz, like Descartes, rejected the idea of empty space, so that the slightest movement in one body has a subtle effect on all.

India’s first civilization was astonishingly advanced. But more interesting than what they had, is what they did not have: a king, an army, a religion.

Visit to the Nymphaeum in Mieza, where Aristotle taught Alexander the Great and Ptolemy I Soter. There would have been a temple structure in front of the cave, which is surrounded by beautiful woods and clear streams.

For over two millennia, philosophers have been poring over Plato’s elusive Form of the Good. Plato himself devised three interconnected allegories (the sun, line & cave) merely to point at it. But I can tell you what it is in just one word: Brahman.

Immanuel Kant employed a retired soldier, Martin Lampe, to wake him up at precisely five to five every morning. Lampe would stride into Kant's bedroom and cry out, 'Herr Professor, the time is come.'

Henry VIII's revisions to the Bishops' Book (1537), a statement of the doctrine of the Church of England, republished in 1543 as the King's Book. @bodleianlibs

Whenever I clean my vacuum cleaner, I am reminded of that phrase of Juvenal, Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

The Life of Marcus Aurelius …

Saw this today at the @bodleianlibs. At age 11, Princess Elizabeth (later, Elizabeth I) translated the Mirror of the Sinful Soul from French & embroidered the cover with the monogram of Katherine Parr, to whom she gifted it. At age 11.

Looking for some weekend reading? The Secret to Everything is currently free to download from my website 🎁

Summer on Leibniz, autumn on Kant. This was published just days ago.

The infinity of past and future gapes before us—a chasm whose depths we cannot see. So it would take a fool or an idiot to feel self-importance or distress. Or any indignation, either. As if the things that irritate us lasted. —Marcus Aurelius

As a child I felt myself to be alone, and I am still, because I know things and must hint at things which others apparently know nothing of, and for the most part do not want to know. —Carl Jung

Emptied the box on the bottom left

Arte is such a great resource for intelligent programmes, in French, German, English

The self is nothing but the sum of its ego defenses, which are constantly shaping, upholding, protecting, and repairing it.

For centuries, the use of the fork was resisted by the Church. Here are some of the reasons: - effeminate - vain and unnecessary - indulgent and permissive - an insult to God's creation - looks like the devil's fork