Only philosophers embark on this perilous expedition to the outermost reaches of language and existence. Some of them fall off, but others cling on desperately and yell at the people nestling deep in the snug softness, stuffing themselves with delicious food and drink. 'Ladies and Gentlemen, ' they yell, 'we are floating in space! ' But none of the people down there care Jostein Gaarder
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Only philosophers embark on this perilous expedition to the outermost reaches of language and existence. Some of them fall off, but others cling on desperately and yell at the people nestling deep in the snug softness, stuffing themselves with delicious food and drink. 'Ladies and Gentlemen,' they yell, 'we are floating in space!' But none of the people down there care. This is a quote from an old English satire called "The Man in the Moon," a comedy written in 1607 by a man named Ben Jonson.

In it, a group of people are stuck in a room with no windows, only one door and only one way out. They get sick of not being able to see anything outside their room and decide to make their own window by building up the wall around them with nails and wood pieces. Of course, they get bored of building up their own wall and start to make fun of previous philosophers who had tried to build themselves a window out of words.

Source: Sophies World

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