| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Tao Teh King by Lao-tze: look at, he quietly remains (in his proper place), indifferent to
them. How should the lord of a myriad chariots carry himself lightly
before the kingdom? If he do act lightly, he has lost his root (of
gravity); if he proceed to active movement, he will lose his throne.
27. 1. The skilful traveller leaves no traces of his wheels or
footsteps; the skilful speaker says nothing that can be found fault
with or blamed; the skilful reckoner uses no tallies; the skilful
closer needs no bolts or bars, while to open what he has shut will be
impossible; the skilful binder uses no strings or knots, while to
unloose what he has bound will be impossible. In the same way the
sage is always skilful at saving men, and so he does not cast away any
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Art of War by Sun Tzu: [For, as Chia Lin remarks: "if you fight with all your
might, there is a chance of life; where as death is certain if
you cling to your corner."]
15. Those who were called skillful leaders of old knew how
to drive a wedge between the enemy's front and rear;
[More literally, "cause the front and rear to lose touch
with each other."]
to prevent co-operation between his large and small divisions; to
hinder the good troops from rescuing the bad, the officers from
rallying their men.
16. When the enemy's men were united, they managed to keep
The Art of War |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Catherine de Medici by Honore de Balzac: the art of printing has given both to the envy which pursues
greatness, and to the popular ridicule which fastens a contrary sense
on a grand historical act. Thus, the name of the Prince de Polignac is
given throughout the length and breadth of France to all bad horses
that require whipping; and who knows how that will affect the opinion
of the future as to the /coup d'Etat/ of the Prince de Polignac
himself? In consequence of a whim of Shakespeare--or perhaps it may
have been a revenge, like that of Beaumarchais on Bergasse (Bergearss)
--Falstaff is, in England, a type of the ridiculous; his very name
provokes laughter; he is the king of clowns. Now, instead of being
enormously pot-bellied, absurdly amorous, vain, drunken, old, and
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