--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Lady Gregory, in a note to her play…" description: "\"“Lady Gregory, in a note to her play Aristotle’s Bellows, writes: Aristotle’s name is a part of our folklore. The wife of one of our labourers told me ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ff/hilda-m-ransome-72656_aristotle_lady-gregory-in-a-note-to-her-play-arist_1220288.jpg" --- # Lady Gregory, in a note to her play Aristotle’s Bellows… ![“Lady Gregory, in a note to her play Aristotle’s Bellows, writes: Aristotle’s name is a part of our folklore. The wife of one of our labourers told me one day as a bee buzzed through the open door, “Aristotle of the Books was very wise, but the bees got the best of him in the end. He wanted to know…” quote by Hilda M. Ransome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ff/hilda-m-ransome-72656_aristotle_lady-gregory-in-a-note-to-her-play-arist_1220288.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ff/hilda-m-ransome-72656_aristotle_lady-gregory-in-a-note-to-her-play-arist_1220288.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ff/hilda-m-ransome-72656_aristotle_lady-gregory-in-a-note-to-her-play-arist_1220288.jpg) > ““Lady Gregory, in a note to her play Aristotle’s Bellows, writes: Aristotle’s name is a part of our folklore. The wife of one of our labourers told me one day as a bee buzzed through the open door, “Aristotle of the Books was very wise, but the bees got the best of him in the end. He wanted to know how they did pack the comb, and he wasted the best part of a fortnight watching them doing it. Then he made a hive with a glass cover on it and put it over them, and thought he would watch them, but when he put his eye to the glass, they had covered it with wax, so that it was as black as the pot, and he was as blind as before. He said he was never rightly killed until then. The bees beat him that time surely.”” [Hilda M. Ransome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-m-ransome/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The anecdote illustrates how obsessive curiosity can lead to blindness, as the observer becomes trapped by the very subject they study. **In simple terms:** Obsessive study can blind you to reality. Key Takeaway Beware becoming too fixated on details. Themes curiosity hubris observation folklore learning Mood reflective cautionary thoughtful Type aphilosophical anecdotal cultural When to use this quote - scientific research - craftsmanship - personal introspection - teaching - creative writing Key Concepts epistemology myth human limitation Questions to Reflect On - Do you ever lose perspective when deeply focused? - How can you balance curiosity with awareness? A Different Perspective The story may romanticize folly, ignoring the value of sustained inquiry. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aristotle/) [Aristotle Bellows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aristotle-bellows-3734551/) [Aristotle Folklore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aristotle-folklore-3734550/) [Bees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bees/) [Door Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/door-aristotle-3734552/) [Open Door](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/open-door/) [Writes Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writes-aristotle-3734549/) ## Related quotes > [“This is Galileo,” said Aristotle. “He advocates understanding the world through observation and experiment. 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Crawford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-b-crawford/) > [“We are what we repeatedly do. —Aristotle”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-navarro/we-are-what-we-repeatedly-do-aristotle/) [Joe Navarro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-navarro/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Aristotle discovered all the half-truths which were necessary to the creation of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/aristotle-discovered-all-the-half-truths-which-were-necessary-to-the/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [“I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well. { His teacher was the legendary philosopher Aristotle }”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/i-am-indebted-to-my-father-for-living-but-to-my-teacher-for-living/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [The ancient Greek philosophers were all natural-born dialecticians and Aristotle, the most encyclopaedic intellect among them, had even already analysed the most essential forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/the-ancient-greek-philosophers-were-all-natural-born-dialecticians/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [“This is what Aristotle meant when he said that the object of science is the necessary and the universal; man and not this man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/this-is-what-aristotle-meant-when-he-said-that-the-object-of-science/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/aristotle-maintained-that-women-have-fewer-teeth-than-men-although-he/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“The void is 'not-being,' and no part of 'what is' is a 'not-being,'; for what 'is' in the strict sense of the term is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-void-is-not-being-and-no-part-of-what-is-is-a-not-being-for-what/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## More by Hilda M. Ransome > [“The bee has round it a mysterious inscription, which has been variously interpreted. It contains an allusion to beeswax, and one scholar has suggested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-m-ransome/the-bee-has-round-it-a-mysterious-inscription-which-has-been/) [Hilda M. Ransome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-m-ransome/) > [“Droughts especially appear to have accompanied the spirits of the dead in bee-form, and for this reason the honey offering was almost always customary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-m-ransome/droughts-especially-appear-to-have-accompanied-the-spirits-of-the/) [Hilda M. Ransome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-m-ransome/) > [“The siren heralds a friend, the bee a stranger.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-m-ransome/the-siren-heralds-a-friend-the-bee-a-stranger/) [Hilda M. Ransome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-m-ransome/) [Explore all 4 Hilda M. Ransome quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-m-ransome/) ## More Aristotle quotes > [“This is Galileo,” said Aristotle. “He advocates understanding the world through observation and experiment. 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Crawford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-b-crawford/) > [The intimate and the infinite are tangled together in this incandescent book, lit by Aristotle’s bright spark of a daughter. Lucid even in nightmare,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-endicott/the-intimate-and-the-infinite-are-tangled-together-in-this/) [Marina Endicott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-endicott/) > [“Within certain limits terminology is always arbitrary. But the definition of being-true as unveiling, making manifest, is not an arbitrary, private invention of mine;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-heidegger/within-certain-limits-terminology-is-always-arbitrary-but-the/) [Martin Heidegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-heidegger/) > [“I have this idea that the reason we have dreams is that we're thinking about things that we don't know we're thinking about-and those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/i-have-this-idea-that-the-reason-we-have-dreams-is-that-we-re/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) > [The science of the church is neglected for the study of geometry, and they lose sight of Heaven while they are employed in measuring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-science-of-the-church-is-neglected-for-the-study-of-geometry-and/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [“I guess I was a mystery even to myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/i-guess-i-was-a-mystery-even-to-myself/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) > [“The void is 'not-being,' and no part of 'what is' is a 'not-being,'; for what 'is' in the strict sense of the term is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-void-is-not-being-and-no-part-of-what-is-is-a-not-being-for-what/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) [Browse all 260 Aristotle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aristotle/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Lady Gregory, in a note to her play Aristotle’s Bellows, writes: Aristotle’s name is a part of our folklore. 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