iWalk.2020.02.12 Soothsaying

Probably since the time of the legendary Aesop around 600BCE, every soothsayer worth their salt knows that one swallow does not make the spring. If you think that is a misquotation then you are possibly from a culture that in the past recognized only used two seasons, summer and winter. By 350BCE when Aristotle left a written record of the notion for posterity in 'Nicomachean Ethics', he was using the Ancient Greek word for 'spring'. By extension, two flowers do not make a spring, either, whichever culture nurtured you.

The full quotation from Aristotle is worthy of going the extra distance: "One swallow does not make a spring, nor does one sunny day; similarly, one day or a short time does not make a man blessed and happy." ~ Translated in 'Philosophical Grounds of Rationality: Intentions, Categories, Ends' in 1988 by Richard E. Grandy and ‎Richard Warner. It would be preposterous for me to argue with anyone with a reputation such as Aristotle has earned, but whatever I was feeling on my walk today certainly felt like being blessed and happy.

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