Aristotle Was About Quantity, Not Quality, of Thought

I don't doubt that Aristotle thought more in actual footage during his life than any other person ever thought in the same elapsed time of sixty-two years. I do say, however, that any prize he deserves for so doing should be for quantity, not quality, as a great deal of it was spinach. He would sit around and think like one possessed, or he would walk around and think, since he was a Peripatetic, as they called it in those days. And then he would announce that Swallows spend the winter under water on the bottom of ponds and streams, or that Eels are the product of spontaneous generation, or that women have fewer teeth than men. And then it would be published and taughght in the schools, because it sounded like the sort of thing that ways is taught in the schools.

Still and all, Aristotle stimulates you. He keeps you guessing, not only about what he meant but about what he thought he meant. Take what he says about the snake's legs - or lack of legs, rather. He says snakes have no legs because, if they had any, they would have only two or four, and that wouldn't be nearly enough. You can stay up all night figuring that one, snatch a few winks of sleep, and fly at it again the next morning. And you'll be little the wiser. All you'll be is a wreck.

Notes:

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 How to Become Extinct
Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book:  Cuppy , Will (2008-08-30), How to Become Extinct, Non Pareil Books, Retrieved on 2012-04-13
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  • Folksonomies: humor