--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The second [argument about motion] is the…" description: "\"The second [argument about motion] is the so-called Achilles, and it amounts to this, that in a race the quickest runner can never overtake the slowest..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/814/zeno-of-elea-51778_achilles_the-second-argument-about-motion-is-the_1792000.jpg" --- # The second \[argument about motion\] is the so-called… ![“The second [argument about motion] is the so-called Achilles, and it amounts to this, that in a race the quickest runner can never overtake the slowest, since the pursuer must first reach the point whence the pursued started, so that the slower must always hold a lead. Statement of the Achilles…” quote by Zeno of Elea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/814/zeno-of-elea-51778_achilles_the-second-argument-about-motion-is-the_1792000.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/814/zeno-of-elea-51778_achilles_the-second-argument-about-motion-is-the_1792000.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/814/zeno-of-elea-51778_achilles_the-second-argument-about-motion-is-the_1792000.jpg) > “The second \[argument about motion\] is the so-called Achilles, and it amounts to this, that in a race the quickest runner can never overtake the slowest, since the pursuer must first reach the point whence the pursued started, so that the slower must always hold a lead. Statement of the Achilles and the Tortoise paradox in the relation of the discrete to the continuous.; perhaps the earliest example of the reductio ad absurdum method of proof.” [Zeno of Elea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeno-of-elea/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The fastest cannot overtake the slowest because the pursuer must first reach the starting point, illustrating the paradox of discrete versus continuous motion. **In simple terms:** Fast runners can’t overtake slow ones due to infinite steps. Key Takeaway Recognize limits of discrete reasoning. Themes paradox motion logic continuity Mood analytical inquisitive Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - traffic flow - project planning - algorithm design Key Concepts philosophy mathematics physics Questions to Reflect On - Can you think of situations where discrete steps fail to capture reality? - How do you reconcile discrete and continuous views? A Different Perspective Discrete models may oversimplify real continuous processes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Achilles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/achilles/) [Argument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/argument/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Paradox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradox/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Runners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/runners/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [So Zeno is most famous for his tortoise paradox. Let us imagine that you are in a race with a tortoise. The tortoise has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/so-zeno-is-most-famous-for-his-tortoise-paradox-let-us-imagine-that/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [ “\[I\]t is important to underscore Kant’s basic point that the finitude of the human condition implies a life-long need for concrete moral examples and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-louden/i-t-is-important-to-underscore-kant-s-basic-point-that-the-finitude/) Robert B. Louden > [The full beauty of the subject of generating functions emerges only from tuning in on both channels: the discrete and the continuous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-wilf/the-full-beauty-of-the-subject-of-generating-functions-emerges-only/) [Herbert Wilf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-wilf/) > [The whole drift of my education goes to persuade me that the world of our present consciousness is only one out of many worlds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-whole-drift-of-my-education-goes-to-persuade-me-that-the-world-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the conversation. Pay attention to everything in the world as if it's alive. Realize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/put-down-the-weight-of-your-aloneness-and-ease-into-the-conversation-2/) [David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/) > [Time, among all concepts in the world of physics, puts up the greatest resistance to being dethroned from ideal continuum to the world of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-archibald-wheeler/time-among-all-concepts-in-the-world-of-physics-puts-up-the-greatest/) [John Archibald Wheeler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-archibald-wheeler/) > [Know what makes a sentence more than a random list, practice constructing sentences and explaining what you have done, and you will know how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-fish/know-what-makes-a-sentence-more-than-a-random-list-practice/) [Stanley Fish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-fish/) > [Life is a constant creation. It is a moment by moment, instant by instant creation. I don’t mean by this that it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-low/life-is-a-constant-creation-it-is-a-moment-by-moment-instant-by/) [Albert Low](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-low/) > [With ordinary men the moments which are united in a close continuity out of the original discrete multiplicity are very few, and the course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-weininger/with-ordinary-men-the-moments-which-are-united-in-a-close-continuity/) [Otto Weininger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-weininger/) > [The mastery of one's phonemes may be compared to the violinist's mastery of fingering. The violin string lends itself to a continuous gradation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-mastery-of-one-s-phonemes-may-be-compared-to-the-violinist-s/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [I have no faith in our hypocritical, false, hysterical, uneducated and lazy intelligentsia when they suffer and complain: their oppression comes from within. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/i-have-no-faith-in-our-hypocritical-false-hysterical-uneducated-and/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [A discrete series is a series of terms each of which is empirically derived, each one of which is empirically true. And this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-oppen/a-discrete-series-is-a-series-of-terms-each-of-which-is-empirically/) [George Oppen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-oppen/) > [Chi-Os were ideal partners for all occasions. They were discrete, desirable, tactful, polite, and fun... Every mom dreamed of her son coming home with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/chi-os-were-ideal-partners-for-all-occasions-they-were-discrete/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) > [The books remind us that way down deep in our hearts, part of us knows that we are creatures of light and we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/the-books-remind-us-that-way-down-deep-in-our-hearts-part-of-us-knows/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [Winning has a joy and discrete purity to it that cannot be replaced by anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-bartlett-giamatti/winning-has-a-joy-and-discrete-purity-to-it-that-cannot-be-replaced/) [A. Bartlett Giamatti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-bartlett-giamatti/) ## More by Zeno of Elea > [My writing is an answer to the partisans of the many and it returns their attack with interest, with a view to showing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeno-of-elea/my-writing-is-an-answer-to-the-partisans-of-the-many-and-it-returns/) [Zeno of Elea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeno-of-elea/) > [ The \[first\] argument asserts the non-existence of motion on the ground that that which is in locomotion must arrive at the half-way stage before… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeno-of-elea/the-first-argument-asserts-the-non-existence-of-motion-on-the-ground/) [Zeno of Elea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeno-of-elea/) > [...but what has been said once can always be repeated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeno-of-elea/but-what-has-been-said-once-can-always-be-repeated/) [Zeno of Elea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeno-of-elea/) > [By silence, I hear other men's imperfections and conceal my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeno-of-elea/by-silence-i-hear-other-men-s-imperfections-and-conceal-my-own/) [Zeno of Elea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeno-of-elea/) > [The avaricious man is like the barren sandy ground of the desert which sucks in all the rain and dew with greediness, but yields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeno-of-elea/the-avaricious-man-is-like-the-barren-sandy-ground-of-the-desert/) [Zeno of Elea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeno-of-elea/) > [Beauty is the flower of chastity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeno-of-elea/beauty-is-the-flower-of-chastity/) [Zeno of Elea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeno-of-elea/) [Explore all 7 Zeno of Elea quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeno-of-elea/) ## More Achilles quotes > [Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know-and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/suppose-that-we-are-wise-enough-to-learn-and-know-and-yet-not-wise/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“Bury us, and mark our names above. Let us be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-miller/bury-us-and-mark-our-names-above-let-us-be-free/) [Madeline Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-miller/) > [Ah, beer, my one weakness. My Achille's heel, if you will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/ah-beer-my-one-weakness-my-achille-s-heel-if-you-will/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [“Patroclus, he says, Patroclus. Patroclus. Over and over until it is sound only.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-miller/patroclus-he-says-patroclus-patroclus-over-and-over-until-it-is-sound/) [Madeline Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-miller/) > [There comes a point where certain things are becoming my Achilles heel; you know when you start repeating yourself and saying the same anecdotes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-elson/there-comes-a-point-where-certain-things-are-becoming-my-achilles/) [Karen Elson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-elson/) > [To reveal imprudently the spot where we are most sensitive and vulnerable is to invite a blow. The demigod Achilles admitted no one to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/to-reveal-imprudently-the-spot-where-we-are-most-sensitive-and/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [Like Achilles, the hero who forgot his heel, or like Icarus who, flying close to the sun, forgot that his wings were made of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-longenecker/like-achilles-the-hero-who-forgot-his-heel-or-like-icarus-who-flying/) [Dwight Longenecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-longenecker/) > [And overpowered by memory Both men gave way to grief. Priam wept freely For man - killing Hector, throbbing, crouching Before Achilles' feet as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/and-overpowered-by-memory-both-men-gave-way-to-grief-priam-wept/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [“Briseis is kneeling by my body. She has brought water and cloth, and washes the blood and dirt from my skin. Her hands are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-miller/briseis-is-kneeling-by-my-body-she-has-brought-water-and-cloth-and/) [Madeline Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-miller/) > [When we consider the weak and nerveless periods of some literary men, who perchance in feet and inches come up to the standard oftheir…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/when-we-consider-the-weak-and-nerveless-periods-of-some-literary-men/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Personal integrity in Achilles achieves the form and authority of immanent divinity, with its inviolable, lonely singleness, half repellent because of its almost inhuman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-h-whitman/personal-integrity-in-achilles-achieves-the-form-and-authority-of/) [Cedric H Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-h-whitman/) > [As the Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe has presciently pointed out, neoliberal corporate globalism threatens to exploit that advantage like never before, and it seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/as-the-cameroonian-philosopher-achille-mbembe-has-presciently-pointed/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [“I listened and did not speak. Achilles’ eyes were bright in the firelight, his face drawn sharply by the flickering shadows. I would know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-listened-and-did-not-speak-achilles-eyes-were-bright-in-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [At Achilles tomb, O fortunate youth, to have found Homer as the herald of your glory!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/at-achilles-tomb-o-fortunate-youth-to-have-found-homer-as-the-herald/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [The Achilles Heel of the Americas was the lack of cultural confidence typical of new settlers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-erickson/the-achilles-heel-of-the-americas-was-the-lack-of-cultural-confidence/) [Arthur Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-erickson/) [Browse all 180 Achilles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/achilles/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The second [argument about motion] is the so-called Achilles, and it amounts to this, that in a race the quickest runner can never overtake the slowest, since the pursuer must first reach the point whence the pursued started, so that the slower must always hold a lead. Statement of the Achilles and the Tortoise paradox in the relation of the discrete to the continuous.; perhaps the earliest example of the reductio ad absurdum method of proof.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Zeno of Elea" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeno-of-elea/the-second-argument-about-motion-is-the-so-called-achilles-and-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Achilles" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeno-of-elea/the-second-argument-about-motion-is-the-so-called-achilles-and-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/814/zeno-of-elea-51778_achilles_the-second-argument-about-motion-is-the_1792000.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/814/zeno-of-elea-51778_achilles_the-second-argument-about-motion-is-the_1792000.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/814/zeno-of-elea-51778_achilles_the-second-argument-about-motion-is-the_1792000.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The second [argument about motion] is the so-called Achilles, and it amounts to this, that in a race the…” — Zeno of Elea", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Zeno of Elea", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeno-of-elea/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The second [argument about motion] is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeno-of-elea/the-second-argument-about-motion-is-the-so-called-achilles-and-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeno-of-elea/the-second-argument-about-motion-is-the-so-called-achilles-and-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```