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Remedies, Detriments, And Moral Factors
The jurist, poet, and scholar Baha Al-Din Ibn Shaddad (بهاء الدين ابن شداد) was born in the city of Mosul, Iraq in 1145. He was a close friend of the famed commander and statesman Saladin, and wrote a highly valued biography of that eminent conqueror. He served for a time as the qadi (judge) of…
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The Indian Rope Trick
The traveler Ibn Battuta visited north India in the early 1330s to seek the employment of the sultan Mohammad Ibn Tughluq. At some point during his residence in the city of Delhi, he had occasion to observe the practices of the Indian holy men, whom he called jugis (i.e., yogis).
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Virtue Is Not Exacting In Her Admittance
There is an interesting passage in the writings of Valerius Maximus (III.3) that is open to different interpretations. It reads as follows:
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The Multimixer Moment (Podcast)
In life there are certain crisis points that may lead to fateful decisions. Recognizing these points, and acting decisively when they are reached, is the mark of a true man of action. When you are on a track that you don’t want to be on, you will eventually have to choose one of two options: …
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The Sultan’s Two Goblets
The medieval Arab traveler Ibn Battuta passed through Persia during his many years of wanderings. One of the regions he visited there was Lorestan, which is today a province in western Iran, situated in the Zagros mountains. Lorestan was at that time ruled by Muzaffar Al-Din Afrasiyab, a member of the Hazaraspid dynasty, which was…
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Seven Pillars Of A Noble Youth
It has been said, my son, that a society which neglects its youth is a society unworthy of survival. For while libraries and museums may be repositories of our cultural heritage, it is the youth that embody our sentient aspirations, and, through their activities, redeem our errors with the vitality of innocence. Yet surging waters…
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Taboos And Totems
Herman Melville’s first book, Typee, describes his adventures among the natives of the Marquesas Islands in the South Pacific. His whaler, the Acushnet, had reached Nuku Hiva, and by that time the young rogue had reached the limits of his tolerance of shipboard life. So he left. He and his friend Toby took a few…
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My Favorite Films Of The Past Twenty Years
Below are listed my favorite films of the past twenty years. These are the movies that have most influenced me, or have left the most enduring impression on my mind. They are presented in no rigid order of hierarchy, except for the first title, The Lives of Others, which for me towers over every other…
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Take Responsibility For What You Do (Podcast)
If you’ve been assigned a job or a position, take responsibility for what you do. Form your plans, put them into action, and stand by your decisions no matter what the consequences. Don’t shirk responsibility, don’t pass the buck, and don’t look to create excuses if things don’t go as planned. Our society is filled…
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The Nakedness Of The Soul
I have just finished watching a reality television series on Netflix called Alone: The Arctic. I believe it was originally produced by the History Channel. Now before you roll your eyes and dismiss what I have to say out of hand, I would ask you for a fair hearing. Hear me out, dear reader: for…
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The Gravitation Of Noble Souls
In one of his letters to his brother Quintus, Marcus Tullius Cicero makes the following observation: The more virtuous a man is, the less he considers others to be evil. [Letters to Quintus I.4.12] The idea is the same as that expressed in an old Korean proverb, which I remember from my residence in that…
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The G Manifesto Tweet Readings: Herd Immunity Edition
We’re back, and pushing for herd immunity! It’s July 14, 2020. And here is the latest installment of the authorized G Manifesto (Twitter: @MichaelPorfirio) tweet readings. The only authorized readings, mind you.
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Acute Vision For Others, Feeble Sight For Ourselves
I recall reading somewhere that both Archimedes and the mathematician Leonhard Euler never liked to explain how they arrived at their discoveries. They took care to remove all the scaffolding before presenting their magnificent edifices to posterity; we saw the finished product, but not the arduous labor that was necessary to create it. This may…
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Thoughts On “Apocalypse Now” (Podcast)
In this podcast we discuss the movie “Apocalypse Now” (1979). We deal with the problematic shooting of the film, the choices of actors, and aspects of the script. We then explore the movie’s major themes.
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The Travels Of Benjamin Of Tudela
The motivations of intrepid travelers are not difficult to discern. The desire to get out, to get away from everything that reeks of contemptible familiarity, to smash through obstacles and barriers both mental and physical, to be confronted with stimuli both terrifying and strange: these would be primary impulses. Following close behind them would be…
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The Travels And Philosophy Of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
She was born in 1689 in Thoresby in Nottinghamshire, the eldest daughter of Evelyn, Duke of Kingston, and Lady Mary Fielding. When she was only four years old, her mother died, and this event became a defining one in her life; for she was raised in a decidedly male environment, a fact that imparted her…
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Plato’s Five Components Of Happiness (Podcast)
In this podcast I answer an email from a reader. He enjoyed a great job as a bartender before the Covid crisis hit, and now has to go back to work with greatly reduced hours and uncertain prospects. He isn’t sure whether to go back, or to try something new. We discuss. We also talk…
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The World Provides Our Necessities (Podcast)
The world is a provider of necessities. Just when you think you’ve hit rock bottom, things have a way of turning around if you keep fighting and stay in the game. The only way to lose is to be a quitter. Have faith in the world’s fructifying ability to provide for our needs.
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The Horns Of Dilemmas
There are times to act decisively, times to observe events and await opportunities, and times to discuss. There are also times to say nothing at all. Aesop tells a story to make this point. A monkey, he says, was once taken as a shipboard pet by a Grecian sailor. When the sailor’s vessel approached Attica’s…
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The Insanity Of The Daughters Of Proetus
Pliny’s Natural History (XXV.47) contains a passage that discusses hellebore, a medicinal plant that in ancient times was used to treat insanity. One variety of hellebore, he says, is called melampodion, a name acquired from a shepherd named Melampus, who noticed that the plant had a purgative effect on his female goats (capras purgari pasto…
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The Ring Of Thoth: A Tale Of The Supernatural By Arthur Conan Doyle (Podcast)
This podcast is a reading of A. Conan Doyle’s tale of the supernatural, “The Ring Of Thoth.” First published in 1890, it recounts the horrific consequences of an ancient Egyptian priest’s discovery of the secret to eternal life.
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Before Acquiring The Horse, One Must Build The Stable
In the year 357 A.D., twenty-seven years after the empire’s capital had been moved to Constantinople, the emperor Constantius II visited Rome. He was awed by its architectural splendor, which at that time was still substantially preserved. He visited the center of the city and the extensive suburbs; the sanctuaries of Tarpeian Jove, “transcendent to…
Original copy of Cicero’s De Officiis (On Duties) published in Holland in 1642. From the collection of Fortress of the Mind.
Quintus Curtius 
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