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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> |
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35 | <dd> |
36 | <dl> |
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37 | <dt> |
38 | <a href="#sec5">One</a> |
39 | </dt> |
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40 | </dl> |
41 | </dd> |
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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> |
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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, "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."</p> |
79 | <p class="quoted">"Once," said Mencius, "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">"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> |
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102 | <p class="quoted"></p> |
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103 | |
104 | <p class="verse"> |
105 | He never failed to drive correctly,<br /> |
106 | And his arrows went straight for the target<br /> |
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107 | </p><br /> |
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108 | </p> |
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109 | <p class="quoted">I am not used to driving for small men. May I be excused?'</p> |
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110 | <p class="quoted">"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."</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, "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">"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."</p> |
161 | |
162 | </blockquote> |
163 | |
164 | |
165 | |
166 | <h2><a name="sec4" id="sec4"></a> |
167 | Qohelet</h2> |
168 | |
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169 | <h3><a name="sec5" id="sec5"></a> |
170 | One</h3> |
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171 | |
172 | <p class="verse"> |
173 | 1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.<br /> |
174 | 2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.<br /> |
175 | 3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?<br /> |
176 | 4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth<br /> |
177 | abideth for ever.<br /> |
178 | 5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place<br /> |
179 | where he arose.<br /> |
180 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.<br /> |
194 | 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 | 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 | 15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting<br /> |
200 | cannot be numbered.<br /> |
201 | 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 | 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 | 18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge<br /> |
207 | increaseth sorrow.<br /> |
208 | </p> |
209 | |
210 | |
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211 | |
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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—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 | |
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252 | <blockquote> |
253 | <p class="quoted"> |
254 | <strong>30.</strong> Our highest insights must—and should—sound |
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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—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—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—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> |
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269 | <p class="quoted">What serves the higher type of men as nourishment or delectation must |
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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 | |
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286 | </blockquote> |
287 | |
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316 | <p class="cke-footer">Mike: I WAS NOT MICROWAVED. |
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318 | <p class="cke-timestamp">Last Modified: |
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319 | January 21, 2013</p> |
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