DiotimosReading Desk

Explained supporting records

Bird caught by the foot

l’oyseau par le pied

Having the bird by the foot is an image of having secured the decisive beginning, not of having completed the entire enterprise.

From the book

Sal Lumen and Spiritus Mundi Philosophici

Clovis Hesteau de Nuysement · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Meaning

Having the bird by the foot is an image of having secured the decisive beginning, not of having completed the entire enterprise. The adjacent “true door and passage” similarly commends correct access to the subject. These figures introduce separation as the beginning of production and nourishment, but the next units distinguish two kinds: natural distinction of connected parts and removal of foreign impediments. The proverb should not be used to turn that differentiated account into a single physical act of cutting or tearing things apart.

Places to read

  1. Book Two · Chapter 3 · Unit 2Proverb and doorway images commend the correct beginning/access.
  2. Book Two · Chapter 3 · Unit 3The subsequent first kind of separation is distinction of connected parts.
  3. Book Two · Chapter 3 · Unit 4The second kind removes alien obstruction without denying coexistence.

Attested forms

l’oyseau par le pied; vraye porte & allee