The Reading Room

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2:56 AM

I've sent off for the first Railway Series book. It'll be a slow project - pouring over one at a time, taking notes - but hopefully will be done before I lose access to the library.

10 hours later…

Bookworm

12:35 PM

Q: "There are three sorts of people: those who are alive, those who are dead, and those who are at sea." Did Aristotle really say this?

The famous sentence "There are three sorts of people: those who are alive, those who are dead, and those who are at sea" is often attributed to Aristotle. However, I was unable to find an actual reference in Aristotle works for this sentence. Did Aristotle really say this? If so, may you please g...

8 hours later…

Rand al'Thor

8:34 PM

@Bookworm Those who are alive, those who are dead, and those who are on HNQ.

Bookworm

9:02 PM

Q: The narrator(s) of the Mahabharata

According to this article by Alf Hiltebeitel, the Mahabharata has "three interwoven frame stories" (page 4). What he calls the "outermost" frame is Vyasa's recounting of the story to five of his disciples. An inner "generational frame" has one of those disciples (Vaisampayana) reciting the epic a...