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Who thought reading a history of Philosophy would be funny? Regarding Pythagoras, credited with first developing deductive reasoning, Russell offers this:
Pythagoras is one of the most interesting and puzzling men in history. Not only are the traditions concerning him an almost inextricable mixture of truth and falsehood, but even in their barest and least disputable form they present us with a very curious psychology. He may be described, briefly, as a combination of Einstein and Mrs. Eddy. He founded a religion, of which the main tenets were the transmigration of souls and the sinfulness of eating beans. His religion was embodied in a religious order, which, here and there, acquired control of the State and established a rule of the saints. But the unregenerate hankered after beans, and sooner or later rebelled.
That's hilarious! "Hankered after beans!" Okay, maybe not Greg-Giraldo-hilarious, but pretty funny for a history of Philosophy. Right? Ahem.
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