" We start, then, with nothing, pure zero. But this is not the nothing of negation. For not means other than, and other is merely a synonym of the ordinal numeral second. As such it implies a first; while the present pure zero is prior to every first. The nothing of negation is the nothing of death, which comes second to, or after, everything. But this pure zero is the nothing of not having been born. There is no individual thing, no compulsion, outward nor inward, no law. It is the germinal nothing, in which the whole universe is involved or foreshadowed. As such, it is absolutely undefined and unlimited possibility -- boundless possibility. There is no compulsion and no law. It is boundless freedom."
Charles S. Pierce, "Logic of Events" (1898)
Urban Legend: Once there was a professor who set a question for the year end Greek Philosophy paper, which was, "Define Courage." Everyone in the hall started to scribble furiously, except for one young lad, who wrote a little, and handed up the paper. He left the room confidently, and the professor saw the answer on his paper: "This Is". He got an A.
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