Words move, music moves Only in time; but that which is only living Can only die. Words, after speech, reach Into the silence. Only by the form, the pattern, Can words or music reach The stillness, as a Chinese jar still Moves perpetually in its stillness. Not the stillness of the violin, while the note lasts, Not that only, but the co-existence, Or say that the end precedes the beginning, […]
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“Enchiridion and Fragments” by Epictetus
A life at odds with Fortune resembles a wintry torrent, for it is turbulent, muddy, difficult to pass, violent, noisy and brief; A soul conversant with virtue resembles a perpetual fountain; for it is clear, gentle, agreeable, sweet, serviceable, rich, harmless and innocent. They who have a good constitution of body can bear heat and cold; and so they who have a right constitution of soul can meet anger and […]
Read moreZhuang Zi: Inner Chapters
Zhuang Zi on Way of Nature A man without toes went to see KongZi (孔子), who criticized him and said, “You were careless, and the damage [to your feet] has already been done, it is too late to seek help now.” The man replied, “I was ignorant and acted recklessly, and so lost my feet. But I come today, because there is something more precious than my two feet that […]
Read moreMoralia: On The Control Of Anger
He that wishes to come through life safe and sound must continue throughout his life to be under treatment. Anger is a Disease of the Soul I should like an attentive friend of mine to hold a mirror up to me during my moments of rage. For to see oneself in a state which nature did not intend, with one’s features all distorted, contributes in no small degree toward discrediting […]
Read moreInstitutes of the Christian Religion: The Origin and Purpose of Doctrine
There is an autobiographical story of how Lu Xun became a writer, which I read many years ago and cannot forget: Lu Xun studied medicine in Japan, and prepared to be a doctor, for he wanted to relieve human suffering. When he saw that patients who nearly died from opium overdose immediately went back to opium after their treatment, he decided to take up writing instead — realizing that healing must […]
Read more“Four Quartets: III. Freedom” by T. S. Eliot
The Dry Salvages Eliot weaves together almost seamlessly the teachings of Eastern and Western religions and philosophies in “The Dry Salvages”. First, there is a lesson from the Hindu scripture The Bhagavad Gita, “Do not think of the fruit of action. Fare forward”, which seems very similar to the deontological ethics of Kant and the ancient Stoics. We’re not to think of the fruit of action, for it is not […]
Read more“The Cossacks” by Leo Tolstoy
Young Tolstoy in Love One must taste life once in all its natural beauty, must see and understand what I see every day before me–those eternally unapproachable snowy peaks, and a majestic woman in that primitive beauty in which the first woman must have come from her creator’s hands–and then it becomes clear who is living truly or falsely. Three months have passed since I first saw the Cossack girl. […]
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