absurd question
Out of context: Reply #20
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- vespa0
"Four is an interesting number because it is a shape that would arouse the curiosity of a cat," wrote Saul Steinberg. "Most numbers are either open or closed. Number 8, for instance, is closed; a cat has no business to look inside. A cat likes to peer into something that is half open - a little bit open - a mystery. Number 3 is obvious, number 1 is nothing, 5 perhaps is more intriguing, but 4 certainly is perfectly designed and engineered for a cat to look inside and find out what is going on."
Not for nothing are letters and numbers called characters, as Steinberg appreciated when he drew them as personalities. "5 and 2 might happily get into bed together," but "1, 4 and 7 have no sex appeal."
(from The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher)