Some time ago, I wrote about the number three. And I have mentioned the number two many times already, mostly in connection with opposites (see Venus and Mars), opposing pairs (see alliterating antonyms) and the dialectic method. But of all the numbers in the universe, none is as important as the number one.
It starts with a perfectly shaped letter, be it circular (the two-dimensional abstraction of the sphere, which the ancient Greeks considered the perfect shape) or ovoid (the egg, the beginning of life). It sounds round, and is homonymous to "won"; it calls up simplicity, wholeness, unity ... you find it in all kinds of expressions, like "the one and only" (a bit strange, if you think about it, "only" being a contraction of one + like), "I, for one", "one in a million", etc. etc. (see als http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/a-23-2006-06-14-voa2-83129842/126143.html for more).
But one is also the loneliest number.
Here is Aimee Mann's version of Harry Nilsson's song "One"
which, much earlier, was also a hit for Three Dog Night:
P.S. I had to rename this entry, because I had already used the same title for something completely different.
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