The philosopher's donkey

The philosopher had a donkey, which travelled everywhere with him. Sometimes the philospoher rode on his back, sometimes he walked alongside, and always he talked, to the sky and to the donkey. Silently the donkey became well versed over the years in the art of rhetoric, the skill of debate and the demands of logic.

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Shamash is smiling

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, which goes back to ancient times where legend and history cannot usefully be separated, there an evocative moment where the hero, Gilgamesh, rails in frustration before his god Shamash about his unfulfilled need to conquer the land of Humbaba. Here's what he says: "If this enterprise is not to be accomplished, why did you move me, Shamash, with the restless desire to perform it?"

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