| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Tao Teh King by Lao-tze: as in the rites of mourning. He who has killed multitudes of men
should weep for them with the bitterest grief; and the victor in
battle has his place (rightly) according to those rites.
32. 1. The Tao, considered as unchanging, has no name.
2. Though in its primordial simplicity it may be small, the whole
world dares not deal with (one embodying) it as a minister. If a
feudal prince or the king could guard and hold it, all would
spontaneously submit themselves to him.
3. Heaven and Earth (under its guidance) unite together and send down
the sweet dew, which, without the directions of men, reaches equally
everywhere as of its own accord.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard: place, following and indeed walking in the deep grooves that I
have mentioned. Presently it seemed to open out as a courtyard
might at the end of a passage; yes, to open on to some vast place
whereof in that gloom we could not see the roof or the limits.
All we knew was that it must be enormous--the echoes of our
voices and footsteps told us as much, for these seemed to come
back to us from high, high above and from far, far away. Bickley
and I said nothing; we were too overcome. But Bastin remarked:
"Did you ever go to Olympia? I did once to see a kind of play
where the people said nothing, only ran about dressed up. They
told me it was religious, the sort of thing a clergyman should
When the World Shook |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Reason Discourse by Rene Descartes: questions belonging to other sciences, but which, by my having detached
them from such principles of these sciences as were of inadequate
certainty, were rendered almost mathematical: the truth of this will be
manifest from the numerous examples contained in this volume. And thus,
without in appearance living otherwise than those who, with no other
occupation than that of spending their lives agreeably and innocently,
study to sever pleasure from vice, and who, that they may enjoy their
leisure without ennui, have recourse to such pursuits as are honorable, I
was nevertheless prosecuting my design, and making greater progress in the
knowledge of truth, than I might, perhaps, have made had I been engaged in
the perusal of books merely, or in holding converse with men of letters.
Reason Discourse |
