We have previously discussed the Book of Kalila and Dimna in these pages. Its source material can be traced to the Indian classic The Panchatantra of Vishnu Sarma. And it is from this book that the following fable originates.
Author: Quintus Curtius
Enlarged Curiosity: The Observational Powers Of Charles Darwin
A period of travel and overseas residence can transform a man from a plodding conformist to a free-thinking iconoclast. Travel is the expediter of dreams, the elixir of mental health, and the abolisher of parochial preconceptions. Nowhere is this truth more clearly demonstrated than in the life and career of scientist Charles Darwin, whose five-year voyage aboard HMS Beagle provided him with the raw materials from which he was able to formulate his earth-shaking doctrine of evolution by natural selection.
Another Michael Porfirio Tweet Reading (Podcast)
If you are not laughing, you are not fully enjoying life. It’s been a while since I’ve done a G Manifesto (Twitter: @MichaelPorfirio) tweet reading. But popular demand can’t be ignored, so I decided to put another podcast out with some of his most recent tweets. The laughter is nonstop…listen for yourself.
Only The Brave Will Find Redemption
There are two things that a man must learn to accept in life: the inherent ambiguities in choosing between alternatives, and the omnipresence of suffering. Consider the story told about Socrates in Diogenes Laertius’s Lives of the Philosophers (II.33): a young man asked the philosopher for his advice on whether he should get married. The old man told him that there were good arguments both for and against the proposition, and that he would regret whatever decision he made. “If you do not get married,” he said, “you may be lonely and your bloodline will die out; if you do get married, you may be henpecked, beset by financial strains, and dubious in-laws. You may also have to tolerate bad children.”
The Wisdom And Recklessness Of Ibn Al-Sikkit
The birthdate of the philologist and grammarian Yacub Ibn Al-Sikkit (ابو يوسف يعقوب ابن السكيت) is not known with certainty, but 800 A.D. is a reliable estimate. His father enjoyed notoriety and prestige in court circles, and may have conferred on his son some access to the corridors of power. The sobriquet “Al-Sikkit” was given to him because of his taciturnity, for the Arabic verb sakata (سكت) means “to be silent.” However, as the reader will soon discover, he was evidently not silent enough.
The Audiobook Of “Lives Of The Great Commanders” Is Now Available
The audiobook of Lives of the Great Commanders is now available on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. This new, original translation of Cornelius Nepos’s Lives of the Great Commanders is the first to appear in nearly a century, and has been almost single-handedly responsible for renewing interest in this long-neglected classic.
The Loss Of Confidence, And The Infliction Of Shame (Podcast)
There are two things that can be especially harmful to an individual or to a society: a loss of confidence, and the acquisition of a consuming sense of shame. How many people do we know who have been set adrift after losing their sense of purpose, or after acquiring a sense of guilt? The same crisis can affect nations and societies. What are these qualities, and why are they so deleterious? We analyze and discuss.
The Thief Who Stole The Pharaoh’s Money
One of Herodotus’s charms is that he is always willing to share a good tale. Some of these stories he apparently believes; others strike him as dubious. Either way, he considers them imporant, and dutifully records their details. “Those who find such things credible,” he warns us, “must make what use of them they will of the stories of the Egyptians. My own responsibility, however, as it has been throughout my writing of this entire narrative, is simply to record whatever I may be told by my sources [II.123].”
What Do Young Men Want? (Podcast)
What do young men really want? What impulses and motivations drive their thoughts and actions?
I offer four fundamental necessities.
Francisco De Orellana’s Epic Navigation Of The Amazon
Francisco de Orellana Bejarano Pizarro y Torres de Altamirano was born in Trujillo, Spain, probably around 1511, although the precise date is uncertain. He seems to have been a relative of the conqueror of Peru, Francisco Pizarro; and this sanguinary connection, combined with opportunities for glory and wealth, may have provided the impetus for him to emigrate to the New World around 1527. He joined Pizarro’s army and served his kinsman well in the power struggles that were then rife among the Spaniards; and when the dust settled, he found himself in possession of substantial tracts of land in Ecuador, and an unsatiated ambition.
Quintus Curtius 
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