| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Art of War by Sun Tzu: preservation of the appointment of Heaven, the firm establishment
of merit, the bestowal of happiness on the people, putting
harmony between the princes, the diffusion of wealth."]
4. Thus, what enables the wise sovereign and the good
general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the
reach of ordinary men, is FOREKNOWLEDGE.
[That is, knowledge of the enemy's dispositions, and what he
means to do.]
5. Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits;
it cannot be obtained inductively from experience,
[Tu Mu's note is: "[knowledge of the enemy] cannot be
The Art of War |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from An Historical Mystery by Honore de Balzac: "You are not an ordinary woman, and you ought to understand me," he
said in her ear. "Malin's conscience will never allow him to leave you
in peace; he will set some trap to injure you. I implore you to be
careful of all your actions, even the most unimportant. Compromise,
negotiate; those are my last words."
The brothers stood motionless behind their cousin and watched the
/berlingot/ as it turned through the iron gates and took the road to
Troyes. Laurence repeated the old man's last words. But sage
experience should not present itself to the eyes of youth in a
/berlingot/, colored stockings, and a queue. These ardent young hearts
had no conception of the change that had passed over France;
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Cavalry General by Xenophon: form your guerilla bands[2] must be so hardened and inured to the
saddle that they are capable of undergoing all the toils of a
campaign.[3] That a squadron (and I speak of horse and man alike)
should enter these lists in careless, disorderly fashion suggests the
idea of a troop of women stepping into the arena to cope with male
antagonists.
[2] Or, add, "for buccaneers and free-lances you must be."
[3] Lit. "every toil a soldier can encounter."
But reverse the picture. Suppose men and horses to have been taught
and trained to leap trenches and scale dykes, to spring up banks, and
plunge from heights without scathe, to gallop headlong at full speed
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