Ibn Rushd caressing her body had often praised its beauty to the point at which she grew irritated and said, You do not think my thoughts worth praising, then. He replied that the mind and body were one, the mind was the form of the human body, and as such was responsible for all the actions of the body, one of which was thought. To praise the body was to praise the mind that ruled it. Aristotle had said this and he agreed, and because of this it was hard for him, he whispered blasphemously in her ear, to believe that consciousness survived the body, for the mind was of the body and had no meaning without it. She did not want to argue with Aristotle and said nothing. Plato was different, he conceded. Plato thought the mind was trapped in the body like a bird and only when it could shed that cage would it soar and be free. . Salman Rushdie
About This Quote

In this quote, Ibn Rushd is talking about the human mind and how it operates on a level above the body. He is saying that if we think of a beautiful person, we are actually thinking of a beautiful mind and not a physical form. The mind is where creativity and potential resides, not the body. In order to praise the beauty of someone’s mind, you must praise their physical form as well. In other words, you can praise someone’s physical beauty without disparaging their mental beauty.

Source: Two Years Eight Months And Twentyeight Nights

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