What is love? There is nothing in the world, neither man nor Devil nor any thing, that I hold as suspect as love, for it penetrates the soul more than any other thing. Nothing exists that so fills and binds the heart as love does. Therefore, unless you have those weapons that subdue it, the soul plunges through love into an immense abyss.

~Umberto Eco

Umberto Eco (January 5, 1932 – February 19, 2016) was an Italian author, literary critic, semiotician and philosopher. He wrote novels such as The Name of the Rose, Foucault’s Pendulum, and The Prague Cemetery, as well as many essays on semiotics, literature and culture.

Umberto Eco is a name that is well known in many literary circles, from those who appreciate the brilliance of his fiction to those who find his works of theoretical thought and writing inspiring. He has been an intellectual force for decades, creating work that has motivated people around the world to think differently and imagine the impossible.

His breadth of knowledge across a variety of disciplines is remarkable, as is his cutting wit and reflexive energy. From semiotics to medieval literature to chaos theory, Eco has navigated countless areas of study with ease, bringing not just a vision of the seemingly-infinite connections between things, but also a unique zest of creativity, innovation, and cross-cultural understanding. Here, we explore the life of this incredible thinker, an exploration that reveals many interesting and unexpected facets of Umberto Eco: his famous works, his thoughts on the world, and his inspiring legacy.

“There are four kinds of people in this world: cretins, fools, morons, and lunatics…Cretins don’t even talk; they sort of slobber and stumble…Fools are in great demand, especially on social occasions. They embarrass everyone but provide material for conversation…Fools don’t claim that cats bark, but they talk about cats when everyone else is talking about dogs. They offend all the rules of conversation, and when they really offend, they’re magnificent…Morons never do the wrong thing. They get their reasoning wrong. Like the fellow who says that all dogs are pets and all dogs bark, and cats are pets, too, therefore cats bark…Morons will occasionally say something that’s right, but they say it for the wrong reason…A lunatic is easily recognized. He is a moron who doesn’t know the ropes. The moron proves his thesis; he has logic, however twisted it may be. The lunatic on the other hand, doesn’t concern himself at all with logic; he works by short circuits. For him, everything proves everything else. The lunatic is all idée fixe, and whatever he comes across confirms his lunacy. You can tell him by the liberties he takes with common sense, by his flashes of inspiration, and by the fact that sooner or later he brings up the Templars…There are lunatics who don’t bring up the Templars, but those who do are the most insidious. At first they seem normal, then all of a sudden…

― Umberto Eco, Foucault’s Pendulum

Bio: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Umberto-Eco

More: https://www.umbertoeco.com/

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