Greek philosopher Anaximenes accompanied Alexander the Great on his expedition against the Persians, in the course of which Alexander's forces captured Lampsacus, the birthplace of Anaximenes. Anxious to save his native city from destruction, Anaximenes sought an audience with the king. Alexander anticipated his plea: "I swear by the Styx I will not grant your request," he said. "My Lord," calmly replied Anaximenes, "I merely wanted to ask you to destroy Lampsacus." And so he saved his native city.
Today in the Word, May 6, 1993.
For every complex problem there is a simple solution--and it is always wrong.
H.L. Mencken.
How deep is the ocean; how high is the sky? At its deepest, in the Mariana Trench, located in the Pacific, the ocean reaches 6.856 miles. The troposphere, which includes the layer of air we breathe, is about 10 miles high, but the atmosphere extends upward more than 600 miles.
At what point did the straw break the camel's back? In his Treatise on One-Humped Camels in Health and in Disease, A. S. Leese reports that camels can generally carry from 240 up to 1200 pounds--which only "the very best animals" can manage. The record for camel capacity in Australia is 1904 pounds.
Randy Cohen in New York Magazine, 1978.