(David)
Humo sum: humani nihil a me alienum puto.
I believe the straightforward translation of this quote is, 'I am human: I consider nothing human is alien to me', and the general acceptance is that it expresses the fundamental unity of humankind.
It is also widely accepted that its origin is in Heauton Timorumenos, a play by Publius Terentius Afer, who was a North-African immigrant to Rome and possibly a former slave. Terentius was a cosmopolitan who was familiar with Amazigh (North-African), Carthaginian (Phoenician), Latin, and Greek cultures. A classic, and classical, multicultural background.
But I guess he was penning an already existing thought, possibly from hundreds or even thousands of years earlier. And why not? After all, can any thoughts claim to be unarguably original? Few, I think.
I came across this quote while researching the concept of an eternal goddess, in particular her historical incarnation as Astarte, for an as-yet unwritten novel. I sketched a shape of these thoughts in the mind of her priestess, in whose person Astarte meets humanity and explores the idea that people have created her to fill their need even as they are worshipping her. So, the goddess is both divine and human, existing on one level with godly creators and at the same time as a creation of humanity.
Today, old Terentius's words got me thinking about how I consider my fellow humans.
Unsurprisingly, because I respect and admire her greatly, my preferred interpretation of the quote is from Maya Angelou: 'I am a human being. Nothing human can be alien to me.'
So, this is where I am. I go further, wider than the worldview that encompassed all of humanity. My adapted version of the quote is, 'I am part of nature: I consider nothing in nature is alien to me.' This is where I stand.
This is an excerpt from A Hedge Druid's Grove - find out more about the book over here - https://www.beatentrackpublishing.com/?n1=publications&id=489
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