An
emperor knows how to govern when poets are free to make verses, people to
act plays, historians to tell the truth, ministers to give advice, the poor to
grumble at taxes, students to learn lessons aloud, workmen to praise their
skill and seek work, people to speak of anything, and old men to find fault
with everything.
(Address of the Duke of Shao to King
Li-Wang, ca 845 B.C.)
For
the soft and gentle will overcome the hard and powerful.
Lao Tsu (6-th century BC) "Tao Te Ching" in translation of Tolbert McCarroll
Those
who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.
Lao Tsu (6-th century BC) "Tao Te Ching" in translation of Tolbert McCarroll
Close
your eyes and you will see clearly. Cease to listen and you will
hear truth. Be silent and your heart will sing. Seek no contacts and
you will find union. Be still and you will move forward on the tide of the
spirit. Be gentle and you will need no strength. Be patient and you
will achieve all things. Be humble and you will remain entire.
Ye
suffer from yourselves. None else compels. None other holds you
that ye live and die, And whirl upon the wheel, and hug and kiss. It's
spokes of agony, it's tire of tears, it's nave of nothingness.
Whatever
is material shape, past, future, present, subjective or objective,
gross or subtle, mean or excellent, whether it is far or near all material
shape should be seen by perfect intuitive wisdom as it really is: "This
is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self."
Whatever
is feeling, whatever is perception, whatever are habitual tendencies, whatever
is consciousness, past, future, present, subjective or objective, gross or
subtle, mean or excellent, whether it is far or near all should be seen by
perfect intuitive wisdom as it really is: "This is not mine, this I am
not, this is not my self."
On
life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom
is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If
a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him.
He
who wherever he goes is attached to no person and to no place by ties of
flesh; who accepts good and evil alike, neither welcoming the one nor
shrinking from the other take it that such a one has attained Perfection.
Give
not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls
before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again
and rend you.
Externally
keep yourself away from all relationships, and internally have no
pantings in your heart; when your mind is like unto a straight-standing wall,
you may enter into the Path.
When
I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have
the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how
much the old man had learned in seven years.
Many
forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of
sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or
all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of
government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to
time.
If
a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and
the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will
lose that, too.
What
a curious phenomenon it is that you can get men to die for the liberty of
the world who will not make the little sacrifice that is needed to free
themselves from their own individual bondage.
Besides
the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of
leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of
non-essentials.
Everything
can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human
freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to
choose one's own way.
We
suffer primarily not from our vices or our weaknesses, but from our
illusions. We are haunted, not by reality, but by those images we have
put in their place.
To
every man is given the key to the gates of heaven; the same key opens the
gates of hell.
Richard Feynman (19181988) "The Value of Science", 1955 In a Buddhist temple there [Honolulu], the man in charge explained a little bit about the Buddhist religion for tourists, and then ended his talk by telling them he had something to say to them that they would never forget and I have never forgotten it. It was a proverb of the Buddhist religion.
If
a principle exists it must be immutable, for that is what a principle is
a truth standing apart from the mood of the times.
When
you are doing one thing talking on your phone, texting, whatever you
are automatically not doing something else. What is the greatest
scarcity in the world today? It's not oil. It's time. Time
is precious. Don't throw it away.