the dialogue with the dead

Nemo solus satis sapit. No one is wise enough on their own.

Wisdom is not a solitary achievement. It is through reading, and through what academic circles call dialogue, that one truly pursues understanding. And as the ancients (Zeno) rightly affirmed, it is in dialogue with the dead—with authors and thinkers of the past—that one can grow wise.

“Experience is the mistress of fools,” some would say. The wise, or at least the potentially wise, will listen to others. They will learn not only from the insights of others, but also from their struggles, sorrows, and vexations. In both cases, the starting point is the same: the recognition of our natural inclination toward folly.

As the Scripture says:

Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him (Proverbs 22:15).