A Lesson in Opposing Viewpoints: On Appearances and First Impressions

Don't trust too much in appearances.

Quintillian, Ancient Roman Teacher and Writer (c. 35 - c. 100 C.E.) 

Clothes make the man.

Recorded by Erasmus, Counter-Reformation Writer, and Scholar (1466 - 1536 C.E.) 

N.B. The phrase is found in Multiple Babylonian, Greek, and Latin Sources. Even Polonius in William Shakespeare's Hamlet says it: "The apparel doth oft proclaim the man."

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Two Ideas About How One Ought To Present Oneself

     Here is a set of dueling philosophies — one based on suspicion of outward appearance — and the other, an appraisal of appearance's worth in civilized society. Which one rings more true?

     I want to trust in the idea that appearances do not tell the entire story of a person. However, I read once that the average person takes X seconds to make a judgment about a person they just met. Do I think you should dress appropriately for a job interview? Yes. But getting the job, keeping it, excelling at it, and growing as a person — will take more than appearances. So maybe the lesson is that you show the world what they want to see and hope they can see who you really are once you get your foot in the door. However, I am tickled by this notion that if we did not judge by appearances — as much — wouldn't the world be a better place. I am thinking of internalized racism — the idea that society is infused with systematic racist beliefs that undermine everyday people's ability to be successful. I had a boss that said, "Dress for success" and "Fake it till you make it," but I think she also told us in a work meeting that she says those things because we live in a world that does judge by appearances. One has to rise up to the occasion — but what about when we meet oppression and resistance to our goals because of our appearance?

The Moral Dilemma of the Two Television News Anchors  

     I think of a dilemma I once read: two television news anchors apply for a competitive job at a cable news station. The job requires facetime on-air every day during primetime television. The first candidate has a degree in media broadcasting, but they have a missing front tooth. The second candidate has a degree in English, but they score well on visual appeal (according to an internal poll). Is there a moral problem in hiring the second candidate based on visual appearance, only? This dilemma bothers me because most people I present this problem to will say, "Hire the candidate with the most experience and the best background for the job" — but I see on social media how people will degrade media personalities for the way they look. There is cognitive dissonance in our society.

Can We Have Our Cake and Eat It Too?

     On the one hand, we want to celebrate ability and prop up a meritorious system based on skill and aptitude — but we are held back by our biases and what we deem "normal." How do we break the cycle? Let me know in the comments. 

Sources: 

• Erasmus, Desiderius, and Barker, William Watson. The Adages of Erasmus. Canada, University of Toronto Press, 2001.
• Stone, Jon R. The Routledge Dictionary of Latin Quotations: The Illiterati's Guide to Latin Maxims, Mottoes, Proverbs, and Sayings. The United Kingdom, Routledge, 2005.

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Quotation: On Considering Heteronormativity in Society (Thank you, Jane Austen)

It's a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. 

Mrs. Bennet — from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Nineteenth-Century British Novelist

Photo by Adam King on Unsplash

Source: Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. United Kingdom, RD Bentley, 1853.

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Proverbial Quotation On Doing Something Too Little Too Late

Proverbs are meant to be short, pithy practical statements. Perhaps the most famous collection of proverbs come from the Hebrew Bible. But here, I have for you a proverb from a different source —

It's a wretched business to be digging a well just as thirst is coming over you.

— Plautus, Ancient Roman playwright (c. 250 - 184 B.C.E.)

Sources: Pickering, David, et al. The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs. United States, Facts On File, 2007. / Nixon, Paul, and Melo, Wolfgang David Cirilo de. Amphitryon. United Kingdom, Harvard University Press, 2011.

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A Few Notable Quotations on Stupidity and Lack of Thinking

Stupid is as stupid does.

— Tom Hanks in Forest Gump (1995)

\

. . . most people would die sooner than think—in fact, they do so.

— Bertrand Russell

sources: Roth, Eric, Wendy Finerman, Steve Tisch, Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis, and Winston Groom. Forest Gump. Hollywood, Calif: Paramount Pictures, 1995. / Russell, Bertrand. The ABC of Relativity. United Kingdom, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1927.

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Quotation: On Those Who Blindly Persecute Others

Forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Jesus, the Nazarene (Luke 23:34)

Alternative thinking:
Or should we? Why is their ignorance a condition for forgiveness? When Jesus says this line in the Gospel of Luke, it is at the moment the Roman soldiers tear off his clothing to ready his body for crucifixion. They also take his clothes and "cast lots" for who will get what of Jesus' meager possessions. It is a brutal scene, one that includes the crowd who shout "He saved others; let him save himself . . .".
The crowd represents us —
the humanity that denied Jesus. So Jesus is talking to us in this passage. On a broader note, Jesus is referring to what Hannah Arendt called the "banality of evil." The Roman Soldiers, the crowd, Pontius Pilate, the temple priests, and those who betrayed him — were they all calculating killers, hell-bent on ridding the world of a man from Nazareth who claimed he was the son of God? Arendt's argument is that evil is ground down to its basest, most formless level. We do not know the two soldiers who tear off his clothes and who cast lots — but they are the best representatives of the banality of evil in the story of Jesus. The brutality is so harsh, so physically brutal — it lays bare the extent of evil as this persistent "thing" that can materialize in a moment. 
Jesus forgives. And I am not sure why. 
Their crime is not something to be explained. To rationalize. And perhaps Jesus knows this. And accepts it. But doesn't condone it. Freed from it. We see it. As evil. For what it is. A heinous crime. Perpetrated against another human being. The woman battered and beaten in the park. A child killed by a stray bullet. A woman who has died alone. Violence perpetrated by hatred and racism. Jesus says, "Forgive them. They know not what they do." But he did not say, forget.   
Note: The translation from Luke's Gospel is the King James Version of the New Testament

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Quotation on Accepting Gifts in a Polite Manner (And Why You Shouldn't Look in a Horse's Mouth, Anyway)

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

- Traditional Saying

The saying comes from the practice of a customer looking into a horse's mouth to determine its age.

Image Credit: "Always Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth". Editorial cartoon shows Uncle Sam examining the teeth (labeled "Wall St. Interests") of a powerful horse (labeled "Central Bank") offered by Senator Nelson W. Aldrich. By 1909, most people thought the American banking system to be badly in need of reform. Aldrich advocated the establishment of a Central Bank, a proposal opposed by progressive Democrats who saw it as an attempt by the financiers of Wall Street to gain control. Published in The New York Times, Dec. 1, 1909, p. 10

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Quotation on Human Existence: To Be Or Not To Be

To be or not to be. That is the question.

Hamlet — William Shakespeare

Photo by Max Muselmann on Unsplash

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Library Poster: "Read a Book"

Printable poster from stonesoferasmus.com to encourage reading—Read a book!

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Book Face: Pharaoh Amasis of Two Egypts Holding Court in Memphis on the Nile River

I’m a high school English and Ethics teacher. Sometimes I’m tired of being a grownup so I play with the book faces in my school’s modest library. Today, I’m covering an ancient pharaoh from ancient Egypt. Also, today is National Shelfie Day.

I'm Amasis, a pharaoh of Egypt.

Standing in the @gardenschoolnyc library serving up some Egyptian Pharaoh realness as Amasis, ruler of Two Egypts - where I’m holding court in Memphis on the River Nile. Who or what am I pointing to? The god Horus has sent me a sign - a golden slipper so bright that every maiden in Egypt must try it on. P.S. Thanks @joellegarcia__  for snapping the photo for this epic Book Face photo.

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Movies That Love The Written Word

In this post, I talk about movies that have a loving relationship to books and to reading.

Pulp Fiction's title is certainly a love letter to a certain kind of book — the dime novel.

Movies That Praise the Power of the Written Word     A teacher friend posted on Facebook that she was looking for movies that praise literature and the power of the written word. Movies based on books that extoll literature — what a nice pairing, and a possible name of a course.

People Suggested a Few Titles 
     People suggested Beauty and the Beast, The Neverending Story, The Hours, Henry Fool, and the Book Thief. A good start. But the post got me thinking. 

Movies based on books are many. 

     I cannot stomach another cinematic example of Great Expectations. Oh, maybe just one more. I love a good Miss Havisham. There is a decent sampling of biopics about writers. Kill Your Darlings is a recent example about the student days of Allen Ginsburg and William Burroughs (and murder to boot). 

Dead Poets' Society

     The casebook example for the movies I am looking for is Dead Poets Society. It's not based on a novel, nor is it fantasy or sci-fi — it is a veritable love song to the merits of reading and the power of poetry. However, I do find beef with its ending (no spoilers). Its original screenplay was written by Tom Schulman and was directed by Peter Weir. 

      Are there any others out there? I am too lazy to compile a list.

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Whose Quotation Is It?: "You Greeks Are Like Children"

Ancient Ruins

“You Greeks are like children.” An Egyptian priest has reprimanded Solon, a Sixth Century Greek diplomat, about why Egypt has been around for quite a while longer than the Greeks. The Egyptians are having none of that. Greek civilization at that time was still too young to boast of its own greatness. Grow up a bit, the Egyptian advises.

But what is the veracity of this quote and where does it really originate?

There is a general rule of thumb that if you read a quotation online purported to be penned by a famous writer, politician, or philosopher, it is best to be skeptical, especially if the quote is not cited with a reference to an actual book or solid source. Plato said it? Abraham Lincoln said it? Hillary Clinton said it? I'd be wary if the citation is not complete. It has happened to me several times that I found a quote that I liked (and even posted it here) only to later find out that its authorship is unknown.

A Quick Internet Search Has Yielded a Researcher’s Headache

A few years ago, I was an assistant to a political scientist - he needed someone to come to his house in Staten Island to work on a manuscript he was writing about emerging global markets. One job I had was to track down quotes he wanted to use in his book. “Research Solon's remarks about ‘You Greeks are like children’,” he told me. It was a seemingly easy quote to track down because I knew the story from History. Solon did indeed visit Egypt in the Sixth Century B.C.E. But who actually recorded the interchange between the priest and Solon: “You Greeks are like children …”?

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A quick Internet search showed that apparently, Plato was the one who immortalized the exchange between the Egyptian priest and Solon - but as I mentioned earlier, I could not find a hard source. However, I finally found the source - after doing a series of searches in the Complete Works of Plato - I found it. The quote comes from Plato’s Timaeus. In this book, Plato has Socrates and his friends talking about a bunch of things, but one strand that runs through the dialogue is the creation of the world. Solon appears in the dialogue because of Critias - one of Plato’s cousins! He tells the story of Solon visiting Egypt. An old priest stands up and says:

“‘Ah, Solon, Solon, you Greeks are ever children. There isn’t an old man among you.’ On hearing this, Solon said, ‘What? What do you mean?’ ‘You are young,’ the old priest replied, ‘young in soul, every one of you. Your souls are devoid of beliefs about antiquity handed down by ancient tradition. Your souls lack any learning made hoary by time.’” (Timaeus 22 b-c)*

*Plato,  and John M. Cooper. Complete Works. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2009. Print.

On the Imagination: Doors Are Indicators of Openings Into Other Worlds

The original Poltergeist movie (1982) perfectly utilizes the
ancient idea of a portal to another world.

I took a class in Graduate school on the Arthurian Legend. I wrote a paper on the duality of evil and good children in the myth - relating it to the Hollywood movies The Sixth Sense and The Good Son. Anyway. One thing I took away from that class was how the idea of doors as portals into other worlds is an old archetype located in the oldest myths and stories that have sprung from humankind's first stories. In the Hindu story of Krishna opening his mouth as a child to show his mother the universe, to the Celtic stories of fairy mounds and magical portals, to the Lady of the Lake breaking the surface of the water to reveal the legendary sword Excalibur. If you live in New York City, stepping into the underground concourse of subterranean subway tunnels is a daily excursion into the upside, downside aspect of city-living. The Netflix Television series Stranger Things is a recent foray into this genre. The show has created an entire mythology around this old concept in its imaginative world-building of the Upside Down. I like how Phillip Pullman in his fantasy series The Golden Compass has his hero wield a blade that cuts into the fabric of space and time, thus able to cross between worlds. Or, that famous image from the movie Poltergeist in which Carol Anne extends her hand toward the white, emanating glow of the television set. Portals can be sunken into the imagination of tales and storytelling told by the fire, but there is a truth in the telling. Fantasy fiction, as well as science fiction, uses portals and doorways. For example - Dr. Who's T.A.R.D.I.S. is the stuff of science fiction lore, but the idea of a quantum-powered engine that can skip across space and time seems plausible. And with images from astronomers showing us what Black Holes sort of look like, the idea of traversing across the universe through cosmic doorways seems real to me somehow. We (i.e., humans) just don't have the technology. Yet. I wonder if in the forthcoming centuries we humans will make the old legends true. We first have to figure out the problem of massive incoming changes in the earth's climate that is fastly becoming our next existential threat - but after that! - we have goals to tend to - ad astra!

I found this whimsical video on the video streaming app Tik Tok. I am not sure if this place actually exists - but if it does I want to go there! Video Source: @elliedothoe

I sell lesson plans for the
English and Humanities crowd (and more!)

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Quote on a New Orleans Setting from The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

The Moviegoer

The swamps are still burning at Chef Menteur and the sky over Gentilly is the color of ashes (p.17). 

Walker Percy, American Novelist and Writer 1916-1990

Walker Percy. The Moviegoer. Bantam Paperback. 1960

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Icarus Falls to his Death; a Cautionary Tale from Greek Mythology

"Icarus" by Henri Matisse

How many stories exist about a father who loses his son? How many tales recount a son who falls away from his father? Throughout literature, how often do we encounter the theme of a flawed father whose ambition causes him to lose sight of what’s closest to him—or a son whose first taste of freedom is so great, he cannot contain it?

Visualizing the Story of Icarus in Art

Image source: Icarus (from the Four Disgracers) by Hendrick Goltzius, 1588.

The myth of Daedalus and Icarus is one such story—a cautionary tale originating from Crete in the Eastern Mediterranean. Thanks to writers like Ovid and Apollodorus, this myth has survived for millennia. In both versions, the essential plot remains: Icarus, the son, is ultimately undone by his own ambition. His tragic fall has been memorialized in art and literature ever since.

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, you can view Hendrick Goltzius’s engraving of Icarus from his series, “The Four Disgracers.” Here, Icarus is depicted plummeting, his body monstrous and his expression a blend of rage and regret. His father, Daedalus, is distant in the composition—still flying while Icarus is banished by the sun’s blazing glory. Goltzius captures the tragic moment, forever suspending Icarus between hope and doom.

In Célestin Nanteuil’s depiction, Icarus appears as a fallen angel—wings broken, body delicate, lying lifeless on the rocks beside the sea. Here, the tragedy is more peaceful, yet no less poignant.

Kid Icarus from Nintendo

Before I learned about Greek myth, my brothers and I played Kid Icarus on Nintendo. In the game, a boy-angel named Pit struggles to fly, searching for agency and purpose. The game bears little resemblance to the original myth—except for the wings. Unlike Pit, Icarus of myth is trapped by the limits set by his father, and the story becomes a meditation on family, agency, and the hazards of reckless freedom.

The Origin Story of Daedalus Foreshadows the Fate of Icarus

Film still from Jim Henson's "Storyteller" version of the Icarus myth

According to some sources, Daedalus, Icarus’s father, fled Athens for Crete after causing his nephew’s death. In the Storyteller adaptation by Jim Henson Studios, this moment of envy and loss haunts Daedalus, foreshadowing Icarus’s fate. In Crete, Daedalus builds the Labyrinth for King Minos and is eventually imprisoned with his son. Their dramatic escape—on wings fashioned from wax and feathers—becomes the heart of the myth. Daedalus warns Icarus: fly too low and the sea’s spray will weigh you down; fly too high and the sun will melt your wings. Of course, like most teenagers, Icarus cannot resist. The taste of freedom is too sweet.

What is the Moral of this Greek Myth?
Traditionally, the myth of Icarus is a warning: ignoring wise advice leads to disaster. But as storytellers like Henson suggest, the tragedy is also inherited—Daedalus’s own failings shape Icarus’s fate. It recalls the story of Abraham and Isaac, and the universal question: must the son pay for the sins of the father? This timeless myth invites us to imagine a different ending—one of redemption, not just ruin.

The Story of Icarus Resonates With Me Personally
The struggle for agency—breaking away from the nest—is a universal experience. From the Christian parable of the Prodigal Son to the modern classroom, we are all seeking both freedom and belonging. As a teacher, I’ve returned to this myth many times. My students always ask, “Why didn’t Icarus just use better glue?” A fair question!

Teaching the Myth of Icarus and Daedalus in Middle and High School
The myth of Icarus and Daedalus remains powerful for students today. I’ve created a classroom-ready 3-day lesson plan that you can use with any text version of the story, guiding students through close reading, visual analysis, and creative writing. Artistic retellings—from Goltzius to Nintendo—invite deep discussion and critical thinking.

Classroom Resource: Daedalus & the Labyrinth

Dive deeper into the myth with this interactive, standards-aligned resource!
Perfect for ELA and Humanities teachers, this lesson features readings, visual organizers, critical thinking questions, and creative writing prompts—all inspired by Daedalus and his legendary maze.

Explore more resources for teaching mythology and literature at Stones of Erasmus on TpT!

Today is Harry Potter's 38th Birthday

Harry Potter turns 38 years old today (and yes, I am keeping up with the birthday of a fictional character). Also, it's J.K. Rowling's 53rd birthday. If you don't know what I am talking about, then you can pick up a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and start reading.

In 2008, I dressed up as Harry Potter

Our lives have run parallel, Harry. When you were 11, you were on your way to Hogwarts School of Magic and Wizardry. I was in Sixth Grade set for middle school in Louisiana. At 38, you were a husband with three kids and slightly depressed working for the Ministry of Magic. At 38, I was gay and single, working as a High School English Language teacher.

Where do our storylines lead us now? Will J.K. Rowling write stories about a forty-something Harry Potter? Has the world had its full of Harry Potter and his wizarding world?

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Attributed Quotation: Abraham Lincoln on Happiness

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

- Abraham Lincoln, American elected head of state in the 1860s

N.B. This quote is apparently misattributed to Lincoln, according to the website Mental Floss. The quote gained traction because in 1914, a guy named Frank Crane wrote a newspaper article that attributed the quote to the President.

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Image Source: Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C. 

Advice on Friendship from Charlotte's Web

“The quickest way to spoil a friendship is to wake somebody up in the morning before he is ready.”

- Charlotte, from Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

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Image Source: EForceManWonder

"Rest at pale evening . . ." - Excerpt from Langston Hughes's "Dream Variations"

Rest at pale evening . . .
A tall slim tree . . .
Night coming tenderly
Black like me

- from Dream Variations, Langston Hughes

Personal Story

I like to collect quotes from poetry, from various sources, and whatnot. I have always liked this passage from Langston Hughes's poem "Dream Variations." Why do I like it? I like it because it is a relevant example of a poet exhorting darkness - extolling the color of blackness - rather than relegating "black" to a tired, and debilitating symbol of evil. So. That is why I like the poem. Hughes is resurrecting "black" as a symbol of beauty, not as a symbol of moral darkness.

Going Further

The poem imagines a speaker coming upon nature at the moment the sun is going down. Looking at the landscape, there is a moment when day turns to night, and the beauty of the oncoming dark sky fills the viewer with a sense of the sublime, of beauty.

Making Connections

Interestingly, the last line from this passage, "Black like me" is used as the title of a book, by John Howard Griffiths - about a white man who changes the color of his skin to experience what it feels like to be black in the rural South during the Civil Rights era of the 1960s. The book is strange because I do not think this kind of experiment would carry over well in today's political terms.

Epilogue

Do you have any poems that you've read that turn the tables on symbolism and imagery? I'd love to hear your examples - you can leave a comment in the box below.

Works Cited

Hughes, Langston. "Dream Variations" The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Copyright © 1994.

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Image Source: "Sunset Park" © 2018 Greig Roselli

A Riff on Jesus—My Two Favorite Quotes

So - my two most favorite quotes from Jesus of Nazareth are as follows:

Momma gonna knock you out. source: zazzle

1. "Do not throw your pearls to the pigs." (Matthew 7:6)

Jesus gonna chew you up and spit you out. source: ignite4christ

2. "If you are a lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I will spit you out." (Revelation 3:16)

I feel like when Jesus says, do not throw your pearls to the pigs, he is saying something slightly out of whack with his usual altruistic spiel. Like. Jesus usually says stuff like "Do to others what you would do to yourself" and "The meek shall inherit the earth." When he starts talking about where you throw your pearls, my ears perk up. I am thinking, "Hey. Jesus is talking about me." Heck. I do not own any pearls — but, hell, I sure as hell do not want to throw my pearls to some sorry motherfuckers who'll never appreciate them. Now Jesus is talking my language, honey.

Rather than dismiss Jesus's injunction to spit you out if you're lukewarm as a caveat against drinking warm soda, I suggest you think of his warning more as an indicator of whether you're spicy or mild. Who wants to hang around with limp toast? Have you ever left your cereal in a bowl of milk for too long? Disgusting! So - Jesus is saying, spice it up, or get out.

Do you have any special quotes from the Messiah? I'd love to hear it. In the meantime, check out Thomas Jefferson's adaptation of the New Testament: The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth.

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Book Review: Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne

Absolute Brightness is a young adult novel.  

Absolute Brightness
by James Lecesne

Paperback, 352 pages

Published May 31st, 2016 by Feiwel & Friend
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I am reviewing the gay YA novel, Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne.

The Amazing Life of Leonard Pelkey
In the late 90s, James Lecesne raised awareness about gay teen suicide. He wrote a novella that was adapted into a short film about a precocious boy who feels rejected by his family and attempts suicide - only to be rattled back to his senses by a cute candy striper at the hospital. This was back in 1998. Trevor lives. Almost as a counterpoint, in Absolute Brightness (2016),* James Lecesne tells the story of a teenager, Leonard Pelkey, who is murdered in Neptune, New Jersey. 

Leonard is characterized as a nice, talkative fourteen-year-old boy. When he first arrives at his aunt's house - to move in - he is met with derision by his cousin, Phoebe, who is also the narrator of the story. Leonard seems oblivious to the fact that Phoebe does not take to lightly to his fashion decisions - pink and lime-green capri pants and a "too small T-shirt." However, for Phoebe, Leonard was "way too different." And it is this aversion to difference that Lecesne grapples with in this book.

Leonard has all the Packaging of a Gay Stereotype
While he is never outright labeled as gay, Leonard carries all the packaging of the gay male effeminate stereotype. He is characterized, in the novel, like Dorothy - "more the type to be heading toward a place like Oz, as in The Wizard of." He never gets there. And the novel turns directions.