Monad Quotes
More Monad Quotes
If the potential of every number is in the monad, then the monad would be intelligible number in the strict sense, since it is not yet manifesting anything actual, but everything conceptually together in it.
iamblichus of chalcis— On the Monad
The Pythagoreans called the monad "intellect" because they thought that intellect was akin to the One; for among the virtues, they likened the monad to moral wisdom; for what is correct is one. And they called it "being," "cause of truth," "simple," "paradigm," "order," "concord," "what is equal among the greater and the lesser," "the mean between intensity and slackness," "moderation in plurality," "the instant now in time," and moreover they call it "ship," "chariot," "friend," "life," "happiness."
iamblichus of chalcis— On the Monad
The dyad gets its name from passing through or asunder; for the dyad is the first to have separated itself from the monad, whence also it is called "daring." For when the monad manifests unification, the dyad steals in and manifests separation.
iamblichus of chalcis— On the dyad
A pair of statements may be taken conjunctively or disjunctively; for example, "It lightens and it thunders ," is conjunctive, "It lightens or it thunders" is disjunctive. Each such individual act of connecting a pair of statements is a new monad for the mathematician .
charles sanders peirce— p. 268 (Mathematical Monads (1889))
In the metaphor of arithmetic , the dyad reveals itself as the door between the One and the Many, between monad and all other numbers.
— Priya Hemenway in Divine Proportion : ? (Phi) In Art, Nature, and Science (2005), Ch. 2 : Pythagoras and the Mystery of Numbers, p. 52
If the potential of every number is in the monad , then the monad would be intelligible number in the strict sense, since it is not yet manifesting anything actual, but everything conceptually together in it.
— Iamblichus (c. 245 - c. 325) The Theology of Arithmetic On the Monad
He ordained that his disciples should speak well and think reverently of the Gods, muses and heroes, and likewise of parents and benefactors; that they should obey the laws; that they should not relegate the worship of the Gods to a secondary position, performing it eagerly, even at home; that to the celestial divinities they should sacrifice uncommon offerings; and ordinary ones to the inferior deities. (The world he Divided into) opposite powers; the "one" was a better monad , light, right, equal, stable and straight; while the "other" was an inferior duad , darkness, left, unequal, unstable and movable.
— Porphyry of Tyre, in "The Life of Pythagoras" as translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie in The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library: An Anthology of Ancient Writings which Relate to Pythagoras and Pythagorean Philosophy (1919); also quoted in The Golden Chain: An Anthology of Pythagorean and Platonic Philosophy (2004) by Algis Uzdavinys
The Pythagoreans called the monad " intellect " because they thought that intellect was akin to the One; for among the virtues , they likened the monad to moral wisdom ; for what is correct is one. And they called it " being ," "cause of truth ," " simple ," "paradigm," " order ," " concord ," "what is equal among the greater and the lesser," "the mean between intensity and slackness," " moderation in plurality," "the instant now in time ," and moreover they call it " ship ," "chariot," " friend ," " life ," " happiness ."
— Iamblichus of Chalcis, in The Theology of Arithmetic, as translated by Robin Waterfield, as The Theology of Arithmetic : On the Mystical, Mathematical and Cosmological Symbolism of the First Ten Numbers (1988)
The Triad has a special beauty and fairness beyond all numbers, primarily because it is the very first to make actual the potentiality of the monad — oddness, perfection, proportionality, unification, limit.
iamblichus of chalcis— On the Triad
Neither the circle without the line, nor the line without the point, can be artificially produced. It is, therefore, by virtue of the point and the monad that all things commence to emerge in principle. That which is affected at the periphery, however large it may be, cannot in any way lack the support of the central point.
john dee— Theorem II (Monas Hieroglyphica (1564))
Therefore, the central point which we see in the centre of the hieroglyphic monad produces the Earth , round which the Sun , the Moon , and the other planets follow their respective paths. The Sun has the supreme dignity , and we represent him by a circle having a visible centre.
john dee— Theorem III (Monas Hieroglyphica (1564))
We finish the brief hieroglyphic consideration of our monad, which we would sum up in one only hieroglyphic context: The Sun and the Moon of this monad desire that the Elements in which the tenth proportion will flower, shall be separated, and this is done by the application of Fire.
john dee— Theorem X (Monas Hieroglyphica (1564))
