A major difficulty is that the answer to the Riddle of the Sphinx is partly a product of the answers that we already have given to the riddle in its various forms.
quote by Gregory Bateson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Riddle
One little riddle
Two little three little
Four little riddle
Five little six little
Seven little riddle
Eight little riddle
Now you know
You gotta go
One little riddle
Two little three little
Four little riddle
Five little six little
Seven little riddle
Eight little riddle
Now you know
You gotta go
Monday morning was the first time
That I noticed something strange
Now I know with your kiss was not the same
Was it all just in my mind
Or was it something I should pay attention to
Then on tuesday having lunch with friends
I thought I saw your car
Leaving from our favorite restaurant but too far
For my eyes to see what I feel
Would be heartbreaking if I saw was true whoo
One little riddle
Two little three little
Four little riddle
Five little six little
Seven little riddle
Eight little riddle
Now you know
You gotta go
(while the chorus is singing)
History
Its history
cause now I see, you lie
One little riddle
Two little three little
Four little riddle
Five little six little
Seven little riddle
Eight little riddle
Now you know
You gotta go
(while the chorus is singing)
You gave me clues
I saw through
Now you lose,
You fool
Wednesday evening
Every time the phone would rang
Youd say hello
When Id come around youd say I got to go
Youre friends never called line two before
And I dont know nobody named tyrone
Oh now its thursday
You left the house to go to work an hour early
You said you had some papers for your boss to sign
But you left your briefcase home
And when I called you job
They said you were not there oh yeah
One little riddle
Two little three little
Four little riddle
Five little six little
Seven little riddle
Eight little riddle
Now you know
You gotta go
(while the chorus is singing)
History
Its history
cause now I see, you lie
One little riddle
Two little three little
Four little riddle
Five little six little
Seven little riddle
Eight little riddle
Now you know
You gotta go
(while the chorus is singing)
You gave me clues
I saw through
Now you lose,
You fool
Friday night
Is the night weve always had our weekend date
But you showed up at the house extremely late
Without any conversation you just went to bed
And said that youre head ached
Now its the weekend
And you know that its the day I do my cleaning
And when I washed your shirts I just could not believe
Im picking hair weave off your seam
Found a letter in your pocket from the week please
One little riddle
Two little three little
Four little riddle
Five little six little
Seven little riddle
Eight little riddle
Now you know
You gotta go
(while the chorus is singing)
History
Its history
cause now I see, you lie
One little riddle
Two little three little
Four little riddle
Five little six little
Seven little riddle
Eight little riddle
Now you know
You gotta go
(while the chorus is singing)
You gave me clues
I saw through
Now you lose,
You fool
One little riddle
Two little three little
Four little riddle
Five little six little
Seven little riddle
Eight little riddle
Now you know
You gotta go
One little riddle
Two little three little
Four little riddle
Five little six little
Seven little riddle
Eight little riddle
Now you know
You gotta go
song performed by by En Vogue
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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What I Cannot Write
what i cannot write
is the answer of the riddle of the sphinx
to me.
i know myself.
hence, i know the answer very well.
i cannot even say it.
thinking about it
shakes my being
like an earthquake
to the foundations
of my house.
i cannot say or write it.
because if i will
everything in me crashes
like September 11.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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I Can Write About It, I Can't Write Some More
that is the riddle of the sphinx,
but i will make sure you cannot figure it out
that your answer shall never be right,
for i am the sphinx,
and i still do not want to die.
tell me all the lies so i may live some more.
i will keep this answer till the last breath of my life.
you shall never know it.
be human still, for i am half lion half bird sitting on a hill
challenging those that pass before me
killing them without pity
you are the chosen one to kill me
with an answer
you are the answer but you are blind still
and too dumb
for not loving me and so i live still
perhaps forever,
for i am attuned to this pain
of loving not
and truly not loving still
you, my secret, my truth, my death.
i live, and only through lies, i live and only through your indifference
you must not have the wit
you must never learn to love
for when this happens
i shall be no more.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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A Hundred Spells
Turandot, Puccini’s opera, told by stylised illustrations in a book
the heart of an Ice Princess frozen by the Moon Goddess, three
riddles posed to every Prince who wished to be her suitor on pain
of death if he could not get the answers right, beheaded by
imperial gesture of the shimmering beauty
Another Prince intrigued by the Princess, the first riddle: Every
night it soars anew, every day it dies - Hope, he replied; Illusion
said the Princess cold - the second riddle: Dream and the flame
flares anew - It is my blood that burns within with love for you,
answered the Prince - the third riddle: What is ice
that gives you fire - You cast a hundred spells - he sighed, The
answer is Turandot; he won the challenge, but would not marry
her against her will, set her one riddle - Say my name, made
her a gift of it to doom them both if she named him, then she
declared LOVE to be the stranger’s name
Chose to marry the strange Prince who by being brave and
generous won her respect; she despised all others but
feared him, cried her first tears - Conquer you or be
conquered – an enchanting Persian tale from A
Thousand and One Nights
poem by Margaret Alice Second
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It is of first-class importance that our answer to the Riddle of the Sphinx should be in step with how we conduct our civilisation, and this should in turn be in step with the actual workings of living systems.
quote by Gregory Bateson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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There Is No Riddle', Wittgenstein
there is no riddle but in the mind
riding the inate thought waves
riding a language lonely rides
bathing within the foam names
white blind still sublime
soaking wet that mind craves
the end of its own time
to surf the peaceful ocean
of life long devotion
there is no riddle but in the eyes
watching the stairless sunsets
climbing the sight up the skies
casting the fragile fish nets
into the water whirl that defines
their depth their width their prey
and the burden of their day
in a silent breath of air
there is no riddle but in the hand
that open the shrines that opens the caves
some light to dark to lend
to pull up the blinds
to comprehend
those eyes that look
those eyes that took
the colour of the first born mind
the riddle to paint the answer to find
poem by Miroslava Odalovic
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I Am A Man
in the morning of my life
i need four of you
at noon i only need two
in the night of my life
i will need three
now you must know me
i am the answer to the riddle
of the sphinx
i am man
when the night is gone
at dusk
i only need one.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Nature is a Sphinx...
Nature's a Sphinx. And her ordeal
Is all the more destructive to mankind
Because, perhaps, she has no riddle.
Nor did she ever have one.
poem by Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev
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An Ode to the Sphinx
2500 years after Oedipus and the Sphinx
was written
I sit in my English class
studying her riddle
as the silverfish crawls
and the fruit flies fly
a teenager, I think
no- twelve years old perhaps
we live in the toughest time
we grow; we are no longer a child
with neon signs lighting the streets
the roar of cars and trucks from city
to town and back
a man playing golf on the moon
we grow
we need to get used to our body
there's new power, new responsibilities
never known before, and we grow
we reek of adolescent growth
and in our premature fear
we fight
we fuel our wars with hatred
hatred from fear
still learning our place
not quite child- not quite adult
and the silverfish crawls
and the fruit flies fly
we fight back
when we are shown love
we cower, hold back
trying to figure out what is right
entering the world with no parent
communism
monarchy
democracy
d ictatorship
nuclear war
bombing the head, the torso, the feet
meanwhile the silverfish crawls
and the fruit flies fly
we discover ourselves in time
and now- 2500 years later
the Sphinx returns with a new riddle
The Sphinx is a girl
The Sphinx is a girl
the test for centuries
failed and failed again
this time aiming for the heart
stabbing, crushing, stomping
the fall of dynasties,
emperors,
kings,
and power
she once again seizes control
the toughest enemy...
the loneliness! that's the riddle!
twisted with fear and hope
failed and failed again
the Sphinx is a girl
lost, wandering and waiting
waiting again
waiting
and the silverfish crawls
poem by Greg Friedrich
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Every human life involves an unfathomable mystery, for man is the riddle of the universe, and the riddle of man in his endowment with personal capacities.
quote by Harry Emerson Fosdick
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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It is to the Riddle of the Sphinx that I have devoted fifty years of professional life as an anthropologist.
quote by Gregory Bateson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sphinx
The smartest of all
Was the lion woman Sphinx
Asking her riddle
Until one answered it right
She killed herself in despair
poem by Chelsey Ferner
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Two Riddles. -- 1710
Sphinx was a monster that would eat
Whatever stranger she could get,
Unless his ready wit disclosed
The subtile riddle she proposed.
OEdipus was resolved to go
And try what strength of parts would do;
Says Sphinx, on this depends your fate;
Tell me what animal is that
Which has four feet at morning bright,
Has two at noon, and three at night?
'Tis Man, said he, who, weak by nature,
At first creeps, like his fellow-creature,
Upon all four; as years accrue,
With sturdy steps he walks on two;
In age at length grows weak and sick,
For his third leg adopts the stick.
Now, in your turn, 'tis just, methinks,
You should resolve me, Madam Sphinx,
What greater stranger yet is he
Who has four legs, then two, then three;
Then loses one, then gets two more,
And runs away at last on four?
poem by Matthew Prior
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To See Life As A Riddle
Life,
Is what we make it.
But some will sit,
To see life as a riddle.
And life...
Some choose to fake it.
With a doing that's believed,
They can be freed of mistakes.
Yet life,
Is what we make it.
But some will sit,
To see life as a riddle.
Some people have a need,
To play life second fiddle.
Out of tune,
And afraid of taking risks.
Some people live,
Afraid of taking chances...
With dismissing most of it!
Yet life,
Is what we make it.
But some will sit,
As if it is a riddle.
Life,
Is what we make it.
Yet some will sit,
Just to play it second fiddle.
And some will see life,
With no middle but a riddle.
Yes some will sit,
Just to play life second fiddle.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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My Friend How Can You Ever Trace Me In That Labyrinth?
in that labyrinth once you saw me as the minotaur
i went into hiding and changed my form
i became a faun, and when you found me with my horn and tail
and lots of hair and goat-like musk, i changed again
into another mythological animal,
a dragon spitting fire,
a centaur, a snake with eight heads,
a dinosaur, a sphinx,
a lion, an eagle,
whatever form i assumed, you still find me,
and sometimes i wonder how have you been following me
through and through in this labyrinths of my hiding
and concealment in masks and names
myriad, escapes and exits,
despite all these, you still find me.
i know one thing, but i will not tell you.
The riddle of the Sphinx
you must know, if solved, crumbles my existence
into ash,
or like a leaf, under too much scorching,
crumples me into dusts.
Please do not tell me the answer.
Make me live a little longer inside your innocence.
Let the chaos stay.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Unwind my riddle
UNWIND my riddle.
Cruel as hawks the hours fly;
Wounded men seldom come home to die;
The hard waves see an arm flung high;
Scorn hits strong because of a lie;
Yet there exists a mystic tie.
Unwind my riddle.
poem by Stephen Crane
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True love never dies
Fiddle the riddle
Wiggle with the riddle
For true love never dies
Except those empty white lies
Love never says goodbye
It just flies
Low and high
Fiddle the riddle
Wiggle with the riddle
Perhaps you can unfold
The puzzle of true love not told
The love I know may sometimes fizzle
Then sparkle with the eye of a twinkle
After wear out like an ageless wrinkle
So I hear your cry and with you I sigh
True love itself never dies
True love never says goodbye
True love never tells a lie
True love never asks the reason why
It just flies and flies and flies and flies
Or it flies past you by
2006 - Sylvia Chidi
poem by Sylvia Chidi
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Fiddle Riddle
Once stood a man on my face
Ooh yeah, on my face
Gobbled him up cause my taste
Leaves nothing to waste
Hear the riddle that I say
Hear the riddle that I say
What is fair is fair
That is fair and square
To me
Piano it marks the good pace
Ooh yeah, the good pace
Dont know if its right, but I like the bass
So turn up the bass
Hear the fiddles as they play
Hear the fiddles as they play
What is fair is fair
And the guitar player
No metal, no brick, was no trace
Oh, no, was no trace
But machines moved on and still chased
No particular place
Hear the riddle that I say
Hear the riddle that I say
What is fair is fair
That is fair and square
To me
What is fair is fair
That is fair and square
To me
song performed by by Frank Black
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Uh-oh, Love Comes To Town
Wait, wait for the moment to come
Stand up, stand up and take my hand
Believe, believe in mystery
Love love love love is simple as 1-2-3
Im a know-it-all, Im smartest man around
Thats right, you learn real fast through the smartest girl in town
Here come a riddle, here come a clue
If you were really smart, youd know what to do
When...
Jump back, sit back, get back, relax
Its ok
Ive called in sick I wont go to
Work today
Id rather be with the
One I love
I neglect my duties, I be in trouble but
Ive been to college, Ive been to school
Ive met the people that you read about in books
Here come a riddle, here come a clue
If you were really smart youd know what to do when I say
Jet pilot gone out of control, ship captain on the ground
Stock broker make a bad investment when love has come to town
Where, where is my common sense?
How...did I get in a jam like this?
Believe, I believe in mystery
Love, love love love is simple as 1-2-3
Here come a riddle, here come a clue
If you were really smart, youd know what to do when I say
Why am I going out of my head, whenever youre around?
The answer is obvious, love has come to town
song performed by by Talking Heads
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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There was this huge world out there, independent of us human beings and standing before us like a great, eternal riddle, at least partly accessible to our inspection and thought. The contemplation of that world beckoned like a liberation.
quote by Albert Einstein
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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