Logos

Line after line, like a page the logos writes itself. Heraclitus says people fail to understand it both before and after hearing it — they overlook what they do awake, as they forget what they do asleep. Here it lies in front of your eyes.

The hidden text

Τοῦ δὲ λόγου τοῦδ’ ἐόντος ἀεὶ ἀξύνετοι γίνονται ἄνθρωποι καὶ πρόσθεν ἢ ἀκοῦσαι καὶ ἀκούσαντες τὸ πρῶτον· γινομένων γὰρ πάντων κατὰ τὸν λόγον τόνδε ἀπείροισιν ἐοίκασι, πειρώμενοι καὶ ἐπέων καὶ ἔργων τοιούτων, ὁκοίων ἐγὼ διηγεῦμαι κατὰ φύσιν διαιρέων ἕκαστον καὶ φράζων ὅκως ἔχει· τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους λανθάνει ὁκόσα ἐγερθέντες ποιοῦσιν, ὅκωσπερ ὁκόσα εὕδοντες ἐπιλανθάνονται. Οὐκ ἐμοῦ, ἀλλὰ τοῦ λόγου ἀκούσαντας ὁμολογεῖν σοφόν ἐστιν ἓν πάντα εἶναι.

In English, my rendering

Of this logos, which is always so, people prove unable to understand — both before they have heard it and once they have heard it. For although all things come about according to this logos, they are like people without experience when they try the words and deeds that I set out, distinguishing each thing according to its nature and saying how it is. But other people fail to notice what they do when awake, just as they forget what they do when asleep. Not listening to me but to the logos, it is wise to agree that all things are one.

Heraclitus of Ephesus, fragments 1 and 50 Public domain — ancient text, c. 500 BC

This is exactly what the sheet carries. The reader returns it letter for letter.

Measurements

Words: 67
On the sheet: 627 bytes
Capacity: 3624 bytes
Fill: 17%
Line length: 3.67 m
Data rungs: 7,248
Paper: A4 · 210 × 297 mm

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