Aphorisms: Miscellaneous

Confucius:  Analects

    Men of superior mind busy themselves first getting at the
    root of things; when they succeed, the right course is open
    to them.

    When truth and right go hand in hand, a statement will bear
    repetition. 

    When you know a thing, maintain you know it; when you
    do not, acknowledge it. This is the characteristic of
    knowledge. 

    If we may learn what is right in the morning, we should be
    content to die in the evening. 

    The scholar who is intent upon learning the truth, yet is
    ashamed of his poor clothes and food, is not worthy to be
    discoursed with.

    Does Heaven ever speak? The four seasons come and go,
    and all creatures thrive and grow. Does Heaven ever speak! 


Ecclesiastes:  King James Authorized Version

    1.4 
    One generation passeth away, and another generation
    cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
    5 
    The sun also ariseth, ...
    
    1.8 
    All things are full of labor; man cannot utter it: the eye is
    not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

    1.18 
    For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that
    increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

    3.1
    To every thing there is a season, and a time to every
    purpose under the heaven:


Einstein

    In my youth I despised all authority
    and I have been punished for that:
    I have been turned into an authority myself
                (quoted from memory)

    Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can
    be counted counts." (Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton)

    Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.

    Without deep reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other
    people.

Lao Tzu: 

     Even the finest teaching is not the Tao
     itself. 
     Even the finest name is insufficient to
     define it.
            (transl. Rosenthal, 1)

            more loosely:  ``the Tao that can be spoken is not
	                     the Tao''

     Without a door, the room cannot be
     entered, and without windows it is dark.
            (transl. Rosenthal, 11)

     The wise person fulfills his needs, 
     rather than sensory temptations.
            (transl. Rosenthal, 12)

     It is only by means of being 
     that non-being may be found.
            (transl. Rosenthal, 16)

     He who lives in filial piety and love 
     has no need of ethical teaching. 
            (transl. Rosenthal, 19)

     To accept the irrevocable 
     is to let go of desire. 
            (transl. Rosenthal, 23)

     The essence of Tao is deep and
     unfathomable, yet it may be known by not trying to know. 
            (transl. Rosenthal, 21)

     Others might be mastered by force, 
     but to master one's self 
     requires the Tao.
            (transl. Rosenthal, 33)

     The way of nature is not contrived, 
     yet nothing which is required 
     is left undone. 
            (transl. Rosenthal, 37)


     Only the soft overcomes the hard, 
     by yielding, bringing it to peace. 
     Even where there is no space, 
     that which has no substance enters in. 
            (transl. Rosenthal, 43)

     The teacher guides his students best, 
     by allowing them to lead. 
            (transl. Rosenthal, 66)

     To acknowledge one's ignorance 
     shows strength of personality, 
     but to ignore wisdom is a sign of
     weakness. 
            (transl. Rosenthal, 71)

     The way of the sage is pointed 
     but does not harm.
            (transl. Rosenthal, 81)

Lewis Carroll

     Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice

     `How doth the little crocodile
     Improve his shining tail,
     And pour the waters of the Nile
     On every golden scale!

     Ahem!' said the Mouse with an important air, `are you all ready? This is the
     driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! "William the Conqueror,
     whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted to by the
     English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to
     usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and
     Northumbria--"' 

     The Duchess! The Duchess! Oh my dear paws! Oh my fur and
     whiskers! She'll get me executed, as sure as ferrets are ferrets!