The Blood of Goats will Shatter Diamonds

                                                          Greek bronze bust of Aristotle by Lysippos,

                                                                  c. 330 BC, with modern alabaster mantle

Aristotle once said that the fresh warm blood of a goat would shatter a diamond.  It's a famous quote, but why I don't know.  I can't find what it means on google.  

It's nonsense, is it not?  Diamonds don't shatter.  They can only be cut with diamond precision tools, certainly not a liquid.  

What did Aristotle mean?  

How would anyone test this?  Diamonds aren't readily available.  Who would kill a goat and pour its blood over a diamond.  

This is just nonsense.  We don't have the context that Aristotle was using.  Maybe he was using it as a simile.  

Trying to empty the ocean of salt is akin to shattering a diamond with the fresh warm blood of a goat.

Well?

Dominican Study Group

Tonight the Dominican Study Group met. The discussion was led by Dr. Marina McCoy. Dr. McCoy teaches philosophy at Boston College. Tonight we discussed Nicomachean Ethics. I was "wicked lost." I just don't have the time to read the material that my "cloistered brothers" do. Maybe I should quit the group. I do love it. It's just that I feel that I can't contribute to it.
What would Aristotle do? Since we seek the virtuous good, then I'll stay. I like Aristotle and I can readily see why Aquinas was attracted to his philosophy. "The good of man is an activity of the soul in conformity with excellence or virtue, and if there are several virtues, in conformity with the best and most complete."
Aquinas takes Aristotle and pushes it up a level by applying God as the greatest Good. I like Aquinas better than Augustine. Augustine isn't as happy and optimistic as Aquinas.
See, I am learning. I guess I'll stay in the group. It is a "good."