Tao Te Ching
William Faithorne
Lucian of Samosata
125 – 180 CE
Monumental influence on western literature.
Syrian satirist, Roman rhetorician, Egyptian official, traveling teacher, and prolific, popular author; Lucian used sarcasm, irony, and humor to make fun of philosophical schools, superstition, religious practices, plutocracy, and paranormal beliefs. His writings include the first science fiction, A True Story (complete with journeys to the moon and to Venus, extraterrestrials, artificial life, and interplanetary warfare), the oldest known version of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice,” and his invention of the comic dialogue genre in his parodies on the Platonic dialogue. Depicted in a Byzantine encyclopedia as burning in hell because of his criticism of Christianity, he became a monumental influence on western literature. His books inspired Shakespeare's Timon of Athens and Hamlet, Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Erasmus's Encomium Moriae, Thomas More's Utopia as well as Botticelli's paintings. His influence extends through the ages by way of Voltaire, Diderot, Cyrano de Bergerac, Jules Verne, David Hume, Henry Fielding, and many more.
Lineages
Epicureanism Humanism Roman / Italian Skeptic
Eras
Chinese
Eastern Han 漢朝 (25 – 220 CE)Unlisted Sources
Rival Philosophies
Quotes by Lucian of Samosata (7 quotes)
“The wealth of the soul is the only true wealth for with all other riches comes a bane even greater than they.”
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“Laugh a great deal and take nothing seriously.”
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“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?”
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“The truth is hidden from us. Even if a mere piece of luck brings us straight to it, we shall have no grounded conviction of our success; there are so many similar objects, all claiming to be the real thing.
”
from Rival Philosophies
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“History has this and this only for its own: if a man will start upon it, he must sacrifice to no God but Truth; he must neglect all else; his sole rule and unerring guide is this – to think not of those who are listening to him now, but of the yet unborn who shall seek his converse.”
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“Everything has a beauty peculiar to itself; but if you put one instead of another, the most beautiful becomes ugly, because it is not in its proper place.”
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“Ignorance is a dreadful thing and has caused no end of damage to the human race.”
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