Iamblichus of Chalcis, in The Theology of Arithmetic, as translated by Robin Waterfield, as The Theology of Arithmetic : On the Mystical, Mathematical and Cosmological Symbolism of the First Ten Numbers (1988)

The Pythagoreans called the monad "intellect" because they thought that intellect was akin to the One; for among the virtues, they likened the monad to moral wisdom; for what is correct is one. And they called it "being," "cause of truth," "simple," "paradigm," "order," "concord," "what is equal among the greater and the lesser," "the mean between intensity and slackness," "moderation in plurality," "the instant now in time," and moreover they call it "ship," "chariot," "friend," "life," "happiness."

— Iamblichus on Now

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The Pythagoreans called the monad "intellect" because they thought that intellect was akin to the One; for among the virtues, they likened the monad to moral wisdom; for what is correct is one. And they called it "being," "cause of truth," "simple," "paradigm," "order," "concord," "what is equal among the greater and the lesser," "the mean between intensity and slackness," "moderation in plurality," "the instant now in time," and moreover they call it "ship," "chariot," "friend," "life," "happiness."" in the context of "Iamblichus of Chalcis, in The Theology of Arithmetic, as translated by Robin Waterfield, as The Theology of Arithmetic : On the Mystical, Mathematical and Cosmological Symbolism of the First Ten Numbers (1988)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Now" (I) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Iamblichus

About Iamblichus

Iamblichus of Chalcis or Iamblichus Chalcidensis (Ἰάμβλιχος; c. 245 – c. 325) was a Greek Neoplatonic philosopher from Syria who heavily influenced later Neoplatonism, and much of western pagan philosophy. He is most famous for his compendium on Pythagorean philosophy.