“The list is the origin of culture. It’s part of the history of art and literature. What does culture want? To make infinity comprehensible. It also wants to create order — not always, but often. And how, as a human being, does one face infinity? How does one attempt to grasp the incomprehensible? Through lists, through catalogs, through collections in museums and through encyclopedias and dictionaries. There is an allure to enumerating how many women Don Giovanni slept with: It was 2,063, at least according to Mozart’s librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte. We also have completely practical lists — the shopping list, the will, the menu — that are also cultural achievements in their own right.”
other lists:
- Notebook Page.
- Notebook 2008 page 21
- “Steve Lacy wrote down a list of advice from jazz pianist Thelonious Monk”
- Making Sense of Language – Mr. Rogers Set of Rules for Talking to Children
- Project Ethel (27.05.14 – 07.01.16): Pages 1-8
- Table of Physiological Colors Both Mixt and Simple by Richard Waller, 1686
- Ten mathematical habits of mind
Paul Greer 