Socrates was sitting beneath an olive tree when a man appeared wearing round purple glasses, black clothes, several silver crosses, and an expression suggesting he had survived both history and himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: Good day. May I ask who you are?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: That’s a difficult question already. I only got here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: An excellent beginning. Most people answer too quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: I’m Ozzy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: Is that your essence or merely your name?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: Depends who’s asking. The tax man gets one answer. The fans get another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: Then perhaps we should begin with what remains when names disappear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: Usually a hangover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: Ah. Is a hangover the soul protesting against the body?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: It’s the body protesting against the soul having too much fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Socrates smiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: Tell me, Ozzy, why do people fear you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: Because somebody once said I bit the head off a bat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: Did you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: That’s not really the important question anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: Then what is?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: Why one mistake gets remembered longer than a thousand songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Socrates folded his hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: You suggest reputation is less truthful than memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: Memory’s a terrible editor. It keeps the explosions and cuts the conversations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: Then fame resembles a bad historian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: Exactly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: You have shouted before great crowds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: Millions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: Did they make you wiser?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ozzy laughed for nearly a minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: No. Louder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: Then applause is not evidence of truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: If it were, every football chant would be philosophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Socrates nodded approvingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: You surprise me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: Everybody says that after they stop expecting me to be an idiot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: Tell me. Why does mankind delight in loud music?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: Same reason your students liked difficult questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: Which is?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: It wakes them up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Socrates became thoughtful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: I spent my life trying to awaken Athens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: I spent mine trying to wake Birmingham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: Which city listened better?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ozzy looked toward the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: Hard to say. They both kept making the same mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A silence settled between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally Socrates spoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: They condemned me for corrupting the youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ozzy grinned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: They blamed me for exactly the same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: Did you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OZZY: Probably not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: Nor did I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They both laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a while Socrates asked one final question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOCRATES: If death comes tomorrow, what remains?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ozzy removed his glasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“My mistakes,” he said. “My songs. The people I loved. And if I’m lucky, somebody hears one of those and decides life is just weird enough to keep going another day.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Socrates stood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“My friend,” he said, “that is philosophy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ozzy scratched his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I thought it was heavy metal.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Perhaps, they are closer than either of us imagined.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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