In 1996 mosaics were accidentally uncovered during highway construction in the modern Israeli town of Lod. Lod is ancient Lydda, which was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 66 during the Jewish War. Refounded by Hadrian as Diospolis, Lydda was awarded the rank of a Roman colony under Septimius Severus in A.D. 200. It remained in Roman hands until becoming a Christian city and eventually succumbing to Arab conquerors in A.D. 636.

The discovery of the mosaics immediately prompted a rescue excavation, which revealed a series of mosaic floors that measured approximately fifty by twenty-seven feet. Debris covering the floors contained pottery and coins of the third and fourth centuries A.D., suggesting that the mosaics had been laid about A.D. 300. The large rooms in which the mosaics were found probably belonged to a private house and served as a series of reception or audience halls where visitors were met and entertained. The mud-brick walls, once covered with frescoes, had collapsed and preserved the mosaics.

Many Roman mosaics have been found in Israel, but the discovery at Lod has attracted considerable attention because the mosaics are of exceptional quality and in an excellent state of preservation.

The main panel, measuring thirteen feet square and set in the center of one of the floors, is divided into a series of smaller squares and triangles by an interlocking cable pattern, forming an outer polygon of twelve sides and sixteen square and triangular segments in which various birds, fish, and animals are depicted. These surround a larger octagonal space populated by ferocious wild animals—a lion and lioness, an elephant, a giraffe, a rhinoceros, a tiger, and a wild bull—with a mountainous landscape flanking a ketos, or mythical sea creature. 

The juxtaposition of animal hunting scenes and a marine scene, combined with the lack of human figures on any of the floors, makes the Lod Mosaic very unusual. Because the mosaic's imagery has no overt religious content, it cannot be determined whether the owner was a pagan, a Jew, or even a Christian. It is certain, however, that he was a wealthy local resident who wished to have his home decorated in the finest Roman style.

The depiction on the Lod Mosaic of solitary or paired groups of creatures, such as a large feline hunting a grazing animal, forms part of the common stock of genre subjects. Nevertheless, the composition reveals essential differences from other known mosaics, implying that the choice of subjects was deliberate and specific. For example, the central panel with the assortment of African and other animals defies immediate interpretation.

When your strategy is deep and far-reaching, then what you gain by your calculations is much, so you can win before you even fight.

When your strategic thinking is shallow and nearsighted, then what you gain by your calculations is little, so you lose before you do battle.

Much strategy prevails over little strategy, so those with no strategy cannot but be defeated. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘯.

~ Zhang Yu

He who knows is others is clever;
He who knows himself has discernment;
He who overcomes others has force;
He who overcomes himself is strong;
He who knows contentment is rich;
He who perseveres is a man of purpose;
He who does not lose his station will endure;
He who lives out his days has had a long life.

Tao Te Ching XXXIII

The most important thing is not life, but the good life.

Plato, Crito 48b

"The poem of Dante is not allegorical in the sense that its figures merely mean something different without existing independently of such meaning in and for themselves. On the other hand, none of them is independent of that meaning such that it simultaneously would be the idea itself and more than merely an allegory of it. His poem thus contains a totally unique medium between allegory and symbolic-objective configuration. There is no doubt, and the poet explains it himself elsewhere, that Beatrice, for example, is an allegory, namely, of theology. The same holds true of her companions and many other characters. Yet they also count for something by themselves and enter as historical characters without for that reason being symbols."

- 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝑺𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒓𝒕"

"Lewis’s view of the relationship of mythology to Christianity is in broad outlines identical to Schelling’s. Lewis argues that primitive religions gave mythic expression to the primordial yearning in human consciousness for an intimate personal contact with the transcendent God, an encounter which would restore the fallen world’s lost immediacy with the divine. Rather than one myth among others, Christianity fulfils the mythological impulse in history; it is “myth become fact” (Lewis, 1970: 63–68)."

- - 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕, 𝑺𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔, 𝒃𝒚 𝑺𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝑱. 𝑴𝒄𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉

https://odysee.com/@gtk:4/Deconstructing-Dugin:2?r=7GMWxWe1ScWv4XQqzrNsN8vHVFAPv6YS

A good talk about one of the most polarizing intellectuals within 'Traditionalism.' It adds some context and nuance to his thought that is sorely lacking in most discussion of his ideas.

“Shame on life here in this world! It is better for me to die in battle than to live defeated.”

Buddha Shakyamuni, Padhana Sutta

"Those who have reason have freedom to will or not to will, although this freedom is not equal in all of them. Celestial and divine beings have clearer judgements, an uncorrupted will, and the ability to achieve what they seek. Human souls are more free when they persevere in the contemplation of the mind of God, less free when they descend to the corporeal, and even less free when they are entirely imprisoned in earthly flesh and blood. Their ultimate enslavement is when they give themselves up to vice and no longer exercise their powers of reason. They have lowered their eyes from the highest truth to dark, base things and are wrapped in a cloud of ignorance. They give in to destructive whims and consent to things that strengthen their bonds of slavery. They have brought this upon themselves and are captives of the exercise of their innate freedom. But still, providence looks after them from eternity, sees what they do, and disposes rewards and punishments according to what each person deserves.”

~Boethius