Pliny the Elder Quotes
It has become quite a common proverb that in wine there is truth (In Vino Veritas).
Pliny the Elder. Natural History, Book 14. Translated by John Bostock and H.T. Riley, Taylor and Francis, 1855, p. 273.
This is one of the earliest observations of the fact that after drinking alcohol, a person is apt to speak without his usual inhibitions and judgment. This has been the downfall of many politicians and is the largest problem of maintaining secrecy and confidentiality.
Spinoza’s ideas were considered so radical and dangerous that he was the only man in history who was excommunicated by the Catholics, the Jews and the Muslims. In addition to being a philosophjer and theologian, Spinmoza was one the the leading scientific experts in optics and the grinding of lenses for schientif instruments and eye glasses. (The lens grinders were the opticians of the era. Both before and after his excummunications his friends were scientists, philosopners and mathematicians.
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 – 79), called Pliny the Elder (/ˈplɪni/), was a Roman author, a naturalist and natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic Naturalis Historia (Natural History), which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. He spent most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field.
