'There is a beginning middle and an end. The middle is that which is not the beginning or the end.' Aristotle via Valeria Luiselli
"A whole is that which has a beginning, a middle, and an end. A beginning is that which does not itself follow anything by causal necessity, but after which something naturally is or comes to be. An end, on the contrary, is that which itself naturally follows some other thing, either by necessity, or as a rule, but has nothing following it. A middle is that which follows something as some other thing follows it." - Aristotle, Poetics
Via Valeria Luiselli from her talk in Rhinebeck