Wisdom.html

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  16     <h1>The Wisdom of the Ancients</h1>
  17    <div class="contents">
  18 <dl>
  19 <dt>
  20 <a href="#sec1">Mencius</a>
  21 </dt>
  22 <dd>
  23 <dl>
  24 <dt>
  25 <a href="#sec2">III.B.1</a>
  26 </dt>
  27 <dt>
  28 <a href="#sec3">VI.A.10</a>
  29 </dt>
  30 </dl>
  31 </dd>
  32 <dt>
  33 <a href="#sec4">Qohelet</a>
  34 </dt>
  35 <dd>
  36 <dl>
  37 <dt>
  38 <a href="#sec5">One</a>
  39 </dt>
  40 </dl>
  41 </dd>
  42 <dt>
  43 <a href="#sec6">Søren Kierkegaard</a>
  44 </dt>
  45 <dd>
  46 <dl>
  47 <dt>
  48 <a href="#sec7">Either/Or I</a>
  49 </dt>
  50 </dl>
  51 </dd>
  52 <dt>
  53 <a href="#sec8">Nietzsche</a>
  54 </dt>
  55 <dd>
  56 <dl>
  57 <dt>
  58 <a href="#sec9">Beyond Good and Evil</a>
  59 </dt>
  60 </dl>
  61 </dd>
  62 </dl>
  63 </div>
  64
  65
  66 <!-- Page published by Emacs Muse begins here --><h2><a name="sec1" id="sec1"></a>
  67 Mencius</h2>
  68
  69 <h3><a name="sec2" id="sec2"></a>
  70 III.B.1</h3>
  71
  72 <blockquote>
  73 <p class="quoted">
  74 Ch'en Tai said, &quot;When you refused even to see them, the feudal lords
  75 appeared insignificant to you. Now that you have seen them, they are
  76 either kings, or, at least, leaders of the feudal lords. Moreover,
  77 it is said in the <em>Records</em>, 'Bend the foot in order to straighten
  78 the yard.' That seems worth doing.&quot;</p>
  79 <p class="quoted">&quot;Once,&quot; said Mencius, &quot;Duke Ching of Ch'i went hunting and summoned
  80 his gamekeeper with a pennon. The gamekeeper did not come, and the
  81 Duke was going to have him put to death. 'A man whose mind is set on
  82 high ideals never forgets that he may end in a ditch; a man of valor
  83 never forgets that he may forfeit his head.' What did Conficius find
  84 praiseworthy in the gamekeeper? His refusal to answer to a form of
  85 summons to which he was not entitled. What can one do about those
  86 who go without even being summoned? Moreover, the saying, 'Bend the
  87 foot in order to straighten the yard' refers to profit. If it is for
  88 profit, I suppose one might just as well bend the yard to straighten
  89 the foot.</p>
  90 <p class="quoted">&quot;Once, Viscount Chien of Chao sent Wang Liang to drive the chariot
  91 for his favorite, Hsi. In the whole day they failed to catch one
  92 single bird. Hsi reported to his master, 'He is the worst charioteer
  93 in the world.' Someone told Wang Liang of this. Liang asked, 'May I
  94 have another chance?' It was with difficulty that Hsi was persuaded,
  95 but in one morning they caught ten birds. Hsi reported to his
  96 master, 'He is the best charioteer in the world.' 'I shall make him
  97 drive for you,' said Viscount Chien. He asked Wang Liang, but
  98 Wang Liang refused. 'I drove for him according to the proper rules,'
  99 said he, 'and we did not catch a single bird all day. Then I used
 100 underhand methods, and we caught ten birds in one morning. The <em>Book
 101 of Odes</em> says,</p>
 102 <p class="quoted"></p>
 103
 104 <p class="verse">
 105 He never failed to drive correctly,<br />
 106 And his arrows went straight for the target<br />
 107 </p><br />
 108 </p>
 109 <p class="quoted">I am not used to driving for small men. May I be excused?'</p>
 110 <p class="quoted">&quot;Even a charioteer is ashamed to be in league with an archer. When
 111 doing so means catching enough birds to pile up like a mountain, he
 112 would still rather not do it. What can one do about those who bend
 113 the Way in order to please others? You are futher mistaken. There
 114 has never been a man who could straighten others by bending
 115 himself.&quot;</p>
 116
 117 </blockquote>
 118
 119
 120 <h3><a name="sec3" id="sec3"></a>
 121 VI.A.10</h3>
 122
 123 <blockquote>
 124 <p class="quoted">
 125 Mencius said, &quot;Fish is what I want; bear's palm is also what I
 126 want. If I cannot have both, I would rather take bear's palm than
 127 fish. Life is what I want; dutifulness is also what I want. If I
 128 cannot have both, I would rather take dutifulness than life. On the
 129 one hand, though life is what I want, there is something I want more
 130 than life. That is why I do not cling to life at all costs. On the
 131 other hand, though death is what I loathe, there is something I
 132 loathe more than death. That is why there are troubles I do not
 133 avoid. If there is nothing a man wants more than life, then why
 134 should he have scruples about any means, so long as it will serve to
 135 keep him alive? if there is nothing a man loathes more than death,
 136 then why should have have scruples about any means, so long as it
 137 helps him to avoid trouble? Yet there are ways of remaining alive
 138 and ways of avoiding death to which a man will not resort. In other
 139 words, there are things a man wants more than life and there are
 140 also things he loathes more than death. This is an attitude not
 141 confined to the moral man but common to all men. The moral man simply
 142 never loses it.</p>
 143 <p class="quoted">&quot;Here is a basketful of rice and a bowful of soup. Getting them will
 144 mean life; not getting them will mean death. When these are given
 145 with abuse, even a wayfarer would not accept them; when these are
 146 given after being trampled upon, even a beggar would not accept
 147 them. Yet when it comes to ten thousand bushels of grain one is
 148 supposed to accept without asking if it is in accordance with the
 149 rites or if it is right to do so. What benefit are then thousand
 150 bushels of grain to me? [Do I accept them] for the sake of beautiful
 151 houses, the enjoyment of wives and concubines, or for the sake of
 152 the gratitude my needy acquaintances will show? What I would not
 153 accept in the first instance when it was a matter of life and death
 154 I now accept for the sake of beautiful houses; what I would not
 155 accept when it was a matter of life and death I now accept for the
 156 enjoyment of wives and concubines; what I would not accept when it
 157 was a matter of life and death I now accept for the sake of the
 158 gratitude my needy acquaintances will show me. Is there no way of
 159 putting a stop to this? This way of thinking is known as losing
 160 one's original heart.&quot;</p>
 161
 162 </blockquote>
 163
 164
 165
 166 <h2><a name="sec4" id="sec4"></a>
 167 Qohelet</h2>
 168
 169 <h3><a name="sec5" id="sec5"></a>
 170 One</h3>
 171
 172 <p class="verse">
 173 &nbsp;&nbsp;1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.<br />
 174 &nbsp;&nbsp;2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.<br />
 175 &nbsp;&nbsp;3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?<br />
 176 &nbsp;&nbsp;4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth<br />
 177 abideth for ever.<br />
 178 &nbsp;&nbsp;5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place<br />
 179 where he arose.<br />
 180 &nbsp;&nbsp;6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it<br />
 181 whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his<br />
 182 circuits.<br />
 183 &nbsp;&nbsp;7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place<br />
 184 from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.<br />
 185 &nbsp;&nbsp;8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not<br />
 186 satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.<br />
 187 &nbsp;&nbsp;9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done<br />
 188 is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.<br />
 189 &nbsp;&nbsp;10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been<br />
 190 already of old time, which was before us.<br />
 191 &nbsp;&nbsp;11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any<br />
 192 remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.<br />
 193 &nbsp;&nbsp;12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.<br />
 194 &nbsp;&nbsp;13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things<br />
 195 that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man<br />
 196 to be exercised therewith.<br />
 197 &nbsp;&nbsp;14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is<br />
 198 vanity and vexation of spirit.<br />
 199 &nbsp;&nbsp;15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting<br />
 200 cannot be numbered.<br />
 201 &nbsp;&nbsp;16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and<br />
 202 have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem:<br />
 203 yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.<br />
 204 &nbsp;&nbsp;17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I<br />
 205 perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.<br />
 206 &nbsp;&nbsp;18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge<br />
 207 increaseth sorrow.<br />
 208 </p>
 209
 210
 211
 212 <h2><a name="sec6" id="sec6"></a>
 213 Søren Kierkegaard</h2>
 214
 215 <h3><a name="sec7" id="sec7"></a>
 216 Either/Or I</h3>
 217
 218 <blockquote>
 219 <p class="quoted">
 220 A feature in which our age certainly excels that age in Greece is that
 221 our age is more depressed and therefore deeper in despair. Thus, our
 222 age is sufficiently depressed to know that there is something called
 223 responsibility and that this means something. Therefore, although
 224 everyone wants to rule, no one wants to have responsibility. It is
 225 still fresh in our memory that a French statesman, when offered a
 226 portfolio the second time, declared that he would accept it but on the
 227 condition that the secretary of state be made responsible. It is well
 228 known that the king in France is not responsible, but the prime
 229 minister is; the prime minister does not wish to be responsible but
 230 wants to be prime minister provided that the secretary of state will
 231 be responsible; ultimately it ends, of course, with the watchmen or
 232 street commissioners becoming responsible. Would not this inverted
 233 story of responsibility be an appropriate subject for Aristophanes! On
 234 the other hand, why are the government and the governors so afraid of
 235 assuming responsibility, unless it is because they fear an opposition
 236 party that in turn continually pushes away responsibility on a similar
 237 scale. When one imagines these two powers face to face with each other
 238 but unable to catch hold of each other because the one is always
 239 disappearing and is replaced by the other&mdash;such a situation would
 240 certainly not be without comic power.</p>
 241
 242 </blockquote>
 243
 244
 245
 246 <h2><a name="sec8" id="sec8"></a>
 247 Nietzsche</h2>
 248
 249 <h3><a name="sec9" id="sec9"></a>
 250 Beyond Good and Evil</h3>
 251
 252 <blockquote>
 253 <p class="quoted">
 254 <strong>30.</strong> Our highest insights must&mdash;and should&mdash;sound
 255 like follies and sometimes like crimes when they are heard without
 256 permission by those who are not predisposed and predestined for
 257 them. The difference between the exoteric and the esoteric, formerly
 258 known to philosophers&mdash;among the Indians as among the Greek,
 259 Persians, and Muslims, in short, wherever one believed in an order of
 260 rank and <em>not</em> in equality and equal rights&mdash;does not so much
 261 consists in this, that the exoteric approach comes from the outside
 262 and sees, estimates, measures, and judges from the outside, not the
 263 inside; what is much more essential is that the exoteric approach sees
 264 things from below, the esoteric looks <em>down from above</em>. There
 265 are heights of the soul from which even tragedy ceases to look tragic;
 266 and rolling together all the woe of the world&mdash;who could dare to
 267 decide whether its sight would <em>necessarily</em> seduce us and
 268 compel us to feel pity and thus double this woe?</p>
 269 <p class="quoted">What serves the higher type of men as nourishment or delectation must
 270 almost be poison for a very different and inferior type. The virtues
 271 of the common man might perhaps signify vices and weaknesses in a
 272 philosopher. It could be possible that a man of a high type, when
 273 degenerating and perishing, might only at that point acquire qualities
 274 that would require those in the lower sphere into which he had sunk to
 275 begin to venerate him like a saint. There are books that have opposite
 276 values for soul and health, depending on whether the lower soul, the
 277 lower vitality, or the higher and more vigorous ones turn to them: in
 278 the former case, these books are dangerous and lead to crumbling and
 279 disintegration; in the latter, heralds' cries that call the bravest to
 280 <em>their</em> courage. Books for all the world are always
 281 foul-smelling books: the smell of small people clings to them. Where
 282 the people eat and drink, even where they venerate, it usually
 283 stinks. One should not go to church if one wants to breathe
 284 <em>pure</em> air.</p>
 285
 286 </blockquote>
 287
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 316 <p class="cke-footer">                   It's no contest, but we still race there
 317                 Like the saintly tortoise and the godless hare
 318 </p>
 319 <p class="cke-timestamp">Last Modified:
 320     April 16, 2010</p>
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