Born on the island of Samos, Pythagoras stood out from childhood.
He is intelligent, awake, studious, with oratorical qualities, and a good athlete.
At the age of 17, he took part in the Olympic Games. Pythagoras spent 22 years in Egypt, and it left a strong impression on him.
There he discovered a mixture of mysticism and geometry embodied in the perfection of the Cheops pyramid and this fascinated him for the rest of his life.
During his stay in Egypt, the country was conquered by the Persians and he became a prisoner of the Persian king.
He was taken to the lands of Mesopotamia and spent considerable time in these places (about 12 years).
There he had the chance to learn from the local Mags and gained even more experience.
As a result of long and serious education and world tours, he accumulates great knowledge.
He learned to play the lyre, wrote poetry, recited Homer.
His deep interests extended into the fields of metaphysics, mathematics, astronomy, ethics and pedagogy.
Pythagoras returned to Samos and founded his own school in the Egyptian style, called the "semi-circle".
Soon after, the island was conquered by the tyrant Polycrates, Pythagoras was forced to leave Samos, due to the risk to his life - his school wasn't to be not accepted by the new government.
Thus, at the age of about forty (and according to others about fifty-five), Pythagoras found himself in Croton (today Crotone, in southern Italy).
Pythagoras discovered the role of numbers everywhere.
For example, in music. It finds perfect mathematical relationships between tones that sound nice together. Determines that musical intervals are harmonic when they are in a precise mathematical ratio.
The teachings of Pythagoras provoke us to ponder the question:
What are the foundations of our own understanding of life? Are there any laws and principles upon which everything in our world rests?
Because if there are such, then there is also some meaning (design) to everything, which is worth exploring and searching for…
No matter how short the words "yes" and "no" are, they require the most serious thought.
Pythagoras left a bright mark in the rich history of Philosophy.
He was the founder of an influential philosophical and religious cult, and probably the first person to call himself a "philosopher". But perhaps the most important of all is that he managed to discover the meaning of life and the creation of the universe... through Mathematics;
A small selection of some of his fine and timeless thoughts read below:
If you can be an eagle, don't try to be the first among the gargoyles!
In an outburst of anger one should neither speak nor act.
Temporary failure is always better than temporary success.
Life is like a show - in it, the worst of people often occupy the best places. Life is like a stadium. At the stadium, some come to compete, others to trade, the happiest to watch and enjoy. So in life, some are born thirsty for fame, others for profit, and philosophers only for truth.
Flattery is like a painted weapon—seemingly beautiful, but of no use.
Do not do anything shameful in front of others or in private.
Let your supreme law be your self-respect.
The people who always speak the truth are the ones who are closest to God.
Nothing is so instructive as the chronicle of our delusions.
Listen and you will be wise. The beginning of wisdom is silence.
Either be silent or say something better than silence.
In the wake of laziness comes poverty.
Save the tears of your children, that they may one day shed them at your grave.
Train the children and you will not need to punish the men.
Jokes, like salt, should be used in moderation.
All is lost if bad people are held up as examples and good people as mockery.
There are only two cures for heartache: hope and patience.
Happiness consists in being able to unite the beginning with the end.
Don't turn your body into a grave for your soul!
Shared with joy
A.A
Stob, Bulgaria