This condition of uncertainty and unrest in the Roman Empire might explain why at Plotinus' philosophy encourages us to sort of flee from the physical world and towards the world of ideas.

Your soul existed before your birth, your soul will exist after your death.

Plotinus is a neo-Platonist, so he would encourage us to go back to Plato.

When you're seeking after bodily pleasure of food and drink for example, this is going to prevent you from doing what you should be doing which is contemplating.

There's going to be this realm of Platonic forms and then there's going to be this single mind, the 'nous', which grasps them.

Unlike later Neo-Platonists, Plotinus says that our souls are always connected to the universal intellect and that we never really fall away.

In fact one of the things about Plotinus is that he maybe not singlehandedly, but I think more than anyone else, killed off the variety and dissension among the philosophical schools of antiquity.

We do each have an intellect but there's a universal intellect which is the same for everybody, as it were. And this single intellect is grasping the platonic forms.

We do have intellects and Plotinus controversially thought that even though we might not be aware of it, our souls are always connected to the intellect. They never fully descend as he would put it.

The body is some kind of image of you, it's kind of something that's just attached to your soul, some kind of outside principle, which doesn't really represent who you really are.

The body distracts your soul.

Didn’t we all grow up understanding that bribes and payoffs - - by whatever name or rationale - - were bad. And that people were supposed to be the focal point of society, not money?

Russia has every reason to dispose of its nuclear arsenal... to suit its interests and international legal obligations.

O be very sure That no man will learn anything at all, Unless he first will learn humility.

The ofspring of those that are very young, or very old, lasts not.

I don't think the riots derailed the civil rights movement.

Here in the U.S., we've made democracy into a science. A cold, impersonal science.

What is happening in Detroit is not good so I don't even want to be a part of that, but there is something on the other side that I may want to be a part of so I don't know yet.

Great mischief comes from attempts to steady other people's altars.

If you don’t stay away from her I’ll rearrange that pretty face of yours. - Simon

I feel blessed to be in the broadcast business for 20 years. I believe that when you're this blessed, you have an obligation to pay it forward. That's what life is all about ultimately.