Wisdom.html

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  18     <h1>The Wisdom of the Ancients</h1>
  19    <div class="contents">
  20 <dl>
  21 <dt>
  22 <a href="#sec1">Mencius</a>
  23 </dt>
  24 <dd>
  25 <dl>
  26 <dt>
  27 <a href="#sec2">III.B.1</a>
  28 </dt>
  29 <dt>
  30 <a href="#sec3">VI.A.10</a>
  31 </dt>
  32 </dl>
  33 </dd>
  34 <dt>
  35 <a href="#sec4">Qohelet</a>
  36 </dt>
  37 <dd>
  38 <dl>
  39 <dt>
  40 <a href="#sec5">One</a>
  41 </dt>
  42 </dl>
  43 </dd>
  44 <dt>
  45 <a href="#sec6">Søren Kierkegaard</a>
  46 </dt>
  47 <dd>
  48 <dl>
  49 <dt>
  50 <a href="#sec7">Either/Or I</a>
  51 </dt>
  52 </dl>
  53 </dd>
  54 <dt>
  55 <a href="#sec8">Nietzsche</a>
  56 </dt>
  57 <dd>
  58 <dl>
  59 <dt>
  60 <a href="#sec9">Beyond Good and Evil</a>
  61 </dt>
  62 </dl>
  63 </dd>
  64 </dl>
  65 </div>
  66
  67
  68 <!-- Page published by Emacs Muse begins here -->
  69 <h2><a name="sec1" id="sec1"></a>
  70 Mencius</h2>
  71
  72 <h3><a name="sec2" id="sec2"></a>
  73 III.B.1</h3>
  74
  75 <blockquote>
  76 <p class="quoted">
  77 Ch'en Tai said, &quot;When you refused even to see them, the feudal lords
  78 appeared insignificant to you. Now that you have seen them, they are
  79 either kings, or, at least, leaders of the feudal lords. Moreover,
  80 it is said in the <em>Records</em>, 'Bend the foot in order to straighten
  81 the yard.' That seems worth doing.&quot;</p>
  82 <p class="quoted">&quot;Once,&quot; said Mencius, &quot;Duke Ching of Ch'i went hunting and summoned
  83 his gamekeeper with a pennon. The gamekeeper did not come, and the
  84 Duke was going to have him put to death. 'A man whose mind is set on
  85 high ideals never forgets that he may end in a ditch; a man of valor
  86 never forgets that he may forfeit his head.' What did Conficius find
  87 praiseworthy in the gamekeeper? His refusal to answer to a form of
  88 summons to which he was not entitled. What can one do about those
  89 who go without even being summoned? Moreover, the saying, 'Bend the
  90 foot in order to straighten the yard' refers to profit. If it is for
  91 profit, I suppose one might just as well bend the yard to straighten
  92 the foot.</p>
  93 <p class="quoted">&quot;Once, Viscount Chien of Chao sent Wang Liang to drive the chariot
  94 for his favorite, Hsi. In the whole day they failed to catch one
  95 single bird. Hsi reported to his master, 'He is the worst charioteer
  96 in the world.' Someone told Wang Liang of this. Liang asked, 'May I
  97 have another chance?' It was with difficulty that Hsi was persuaded,
  98 but in one morning they caught ten birds. Hsi reported to his
  99 master, 'He is the best charioteer in the world.' 'I shall make him
 100 drive for you,' said Viscount Chien. He asked Wang Liang, but
 101 Wang Liang refused. 'I drove for him according to the proper rules,'
 102 said he, 'and we did not catch a single bird all day. Then I used
 103 underhand methods, and we caught ten birds in one morning. The <em>Book
 104 of Odes</em> says,</p>
 105 <p class="quoted"></p>
 106
 107 <p class="verse">
 108 He never failed to drive correctly,<br />
 109 And his arrows went straight for the target<br />
 110 </p><br />
 111 </p>
 112 <p class="quoted">I am not used to driving for small men. May I be excused?'</p>
 113 <p class="quoted">&quot;Even a charioteer is ashamed to be in league with an archer. When
 114 doing so means catching enough birds to pile up like a mountain, he
 115 would still rather not do it. What can one do about those who bend
 116 the Way in order to please others? You are futher mistaken. There
 117 has never been a man who could straighten others by bending
 118 himself.&quot;</p>
 119
 120 </blockquote>
 121
 122
 123 <h3><a name="sec3" id="sec3"></a>
 124 VI.A.10</h3>
 125
 126 <blockquote>
 127 <p class="quoted">
 128 Mencius said, &quot;Fish is what I want; bear's palm is also what I
 129 want. If I cannot have both, I would rather take bear's palm than
 130 fish. Life is what I want; dutifulness is also what I want. If I
 131 cannot have both, I would rather take dutifulness than life. On the
 132 one hand, though life is what I want, there is something I want more
 133 than life. That is why I do not cling to life at all costs. On the
 134 other hand, though death is what I loathe, there is something I
 135 loathe more than death. That is why there are troubles I do not
 136 avoid. If there is nothing a man wants more than life, then why
 137 should he have scruples about any means, so long as it will serve to
 138 keep him alive? if there is nothing a man loathes more than death,
 139 then why should have have scruples about any means, so long as it
 140 helps him to avoid trouble? Yet there are ways of remaining alive
 141 and ways of avoiding death to which a man will not resort. In other
 142 words, there are things a man wants more than life and there are
 143 also things he loathes more than death. This is an attitude not
 144 confined to the moral man but common to all men. The moral man simply
 145 never loses it.</p>
 146 <p class="quoted">&quot;Here is a basketful of rice and a bowful of soup. Getting them will
 147 mean life; not getting them will mean death. When these are given
 148 with abuse, even a wayfarer would not accept them; when these are
 149 given after being trampled upon, even a beggar would not accept
 150 them. Yet when it comes to ten thousand bushels of grain one is
 151 supposed to accept without asking if it is in accordance with the
 152 rites or if it is right to do so. What benefit are then thousand
 153 bushels of grain to me? [Do I accept them] for the sake of beautiful
 154 houses, the enjoyment of wives and concubines, or for the sake of
 155 the gratitude my needy acquaintances will show? What I would not
 156 accept in the first instance when it was a matter of life and death
 157 I now accept for the sake of beautiful houses; what I would not
 158 accept when it was a matter of life and death I now accept for the
 159 enjoyment of wives and concubines; what I would not accept when it
 160 was a matter of life and death I now accept for the sake of the
 161 gratitude my needy acquaintances will show me. Is there no way of
 162 putting a stop to this? This way of thinking is known as losing
 163 one's original heart.&quot;</p>
 164
 165 </blockquote>
 166
 167
 168
 169 <h2><a name="sec4" id="sec4"></a>
 170 Qohelet</h2>
 171
 172 <h3><a name="sec5" id="sec5"></a>
 173 One</h3>
 174
 175 <p class="verse">
 176 &nbsp;&nbsp;1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.<br />
 177 &nbsp;&nbsp;2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.<br />
 178 &nbsp;&nbsp;3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?<br />
 179 &nbsp;&nbsp;4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth<br />
 180 abideth for ever.<br />
 181 &nbsp;&nbsp;5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place<br />
 182 where he arose.<br />
 183 &nbsp;&nbsp;6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it<br />
 184 whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his<br />
 185 circuits.<br />
 186 &nbsp;&nbsp;7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place<br />
 187 from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.<br />
 188 &nbsp;&nbsp;8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not<br />
 189 satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.<br />
 190 &nbsp;&nbsp;9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done<br />
 191 is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.<br />
 192 &nbsp;&nbsp;10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been<br />
 193 already of old time, which was before us.<br />
 194 &nbsp;&nbsp;11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any<br />
 195 remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.<br />
 196 &nbsp;&nbsp;12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.<br />
 197 &nbsp;&nbsp;13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things<br />
 198 that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man<br />
 199 to be exercised therewith.<br />
 200 &nbsp;&nbsp;14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is<br />
 201 vanity and vexation of spirit.<br />
 202 &nbsp;&nbsp;15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting<br />
 203 cannot be numbered.<br />
 204 &nbsp;&nbsp;16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and<br />
 205 have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem:<br />
 206 yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.<br />
 207 &nbsp;&nbsp;17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I<br />
 208 perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.<br />
 209 &nbsp;&nbsp;18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge<br />
 210 increaseth sorrow.<br />
 211 </p>
 212
 213
 214
 215 <h2><a name="sec6" id="sec6"></a>
 216 Søren Kierkegaard</h2>
 217
 218 <h3><a name="sec7" id="sec7"></a>
 219 Either/Or I</h3>
 220
 221 <blockquote>
 222 <p class="quoted">
 223 A feature in which our age certainly excels that age in Greece is that
 224 our age is more depressed and therefore deeper in despair. Thus, our
 225 age is sufficiently depressed to know that there is something called
 226 responsibility and that this means something. Therefore, although
 227 everyone wants to rule, no one wants to have responsibility. It is
 228 still fresh in our memory that a French statesman, when offered a
 229 portfolio the second time, declared that he would accept it but on the
 230 condition that the secretary of state be made responsible. It is well
 231 known that the king in France is not responsible, but the prime
 232 minister is; the prime minister does not wish to be responsible but
 233 wants to be prime minister provided that the secretary of state will
 234 be responsible; ultimately it ends, of course, with the watchmen or
 235 street commissioners becoming responsible. Would not this inverted
 236 story of responsibility be an appropriate subject for Aristophanes! On
 237 the other hand, why are the government and the governors so afraid of
 238 assuming responsibility, unless it is because they fear an opposition
 239 party that in turn continually pushes away responsibility on a similar
 240 scale. When one imagines these two powers face to face with each other
 241 but unable to catch hold of each other because the one is always
 242 disappearing and is replaced by the other&mdash;such a situation would
 243 certainly not be without comic power.</p>
 244
 245 </blockquote>
 246
 247
 248
 249 <h2><a name="sec8" id="sec8"></a>
 250 Nietzsche</h2>
 251
 252 <h3><a name="sec9" id="sec9"></a>
 253 Beyond Good and Evil</h3>
 254
 255 <blockquote>
 256 <p class="quoted">
 257 <strong>30.</strong> Our highest insights must&mdash;and should&mdash;sound
 258 like follies and sometimes like crimes when they are heard without
 259 permission by those who are not predisposed and predestined for
 260 them. The difference between the exoteric and the esoteric, formerly
 261 known to philosophers&mdash;among the Indians as among the Greek,
 262 Persians, and Muslims, in short, wherever one believed in an order of
 263 rank and <em>not</em> in equality and equal rights&mdash;does not so much
 264 consists in this, that the exoteric approach comes from the outside
 265 and sees, estimates, measures, and judges from the outside, not the
 266 inside; what is much more essential is that the exoteric approach sees
 267 things from below, the esoteric looks <em>down from above</em>. There
 268 are heights of the soul from which even tragedy ceases to look tragic;
 269 and rolling together all the woe of the world&mdash;who could dare to
 270 decide whether its sight would <em>necessarily</em> seduce us and
 271 compel us to feel pity and thus double this woe?</p>
 272 <p class="quoted">What serves the higher type of men as nourishment or delectation must
 273 almost be poison for a very different and inferior type. The virtues
 274 of the common man might perhaps signify vices and weaknesses in a
 275 philosopher. It could be possible that a man of a high type, when
 276 degenerating and perishing, might only at that point acquire qualities
 277 that would require those in the lower sphere into which he had sunk to
 278 begin to venerate him like a saint. There are books that have opposite
 279 values for soul and health, depending on whether the lower soul, the
 280 lower vitality, or the higher and more vigorous ones turn to them: in
 281 the former case, these books are dangerous and lead to crumbling and
 282 disintegration; in the latter, heralds' cries that call the bravest to
 283 <em>their</em> courage. Books for all the world are always
 284 foul-smelling books: the smell of small people clings to them. Where
 285 the people eat and drink, even where they venerate, it usually
 286 stinks. One should not go to church if one wants to breathe
 287 <em>pure</em> air.</p>
 288
 289 </blockquote>
 290
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