The Ultimate Task of Statesmanship

From Kissinger's On China:


Universal rule, to last, needs to translate force into obligation. Otherwise, the energies of the rulers will be exhausted in maintaining their dominance at the expense of their ability to shape the future, which is the ultimate task of statesmanship.

Kissinger, Henry (2011-05-17). On China (p. 13). Penguin Group. Kindle Edition. 

Desert Wisdom

From Merton's The Wisdom of the Desert:

V

Abbot Pastor said: There are two things which a monk ought to hate above all, for by hating them he can become free in this world. And a brother asked: What are these things? The elder replied: An easy life and vain glory.

Losing Our Balance

Thought for the day, courtesy of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi:

When we lose our balance,

we die,

but at the same time

we also develop ourselves,

we grow...

That Invisible Shadow

Wise words from Eudora Welty:

My continuing passion is to part the curtain,
That invisible shadow that falls between people,
The veil of indifference to each other's presence,
Each other's wonder,
Each other's human plight.

But It's Raining

I Want to Go Out, but It's Raining

by Lu You
Southern Sung Dynasty
About 1200 A.D.

The east wind blows rain,
Vexing the rambler.
The road turns to mud
From fine dust.

Flowers sleep, willows drowse,
Spring itself is lazy.
And it turns out that I
Am even lazier than spring.

Hostile to e-books

From the back cover of Poetry, November 2012:

The unadmitted reason why traditional readers are hostile to e-books 

is that we still hold the superstitious idea 

that a book is like a soul, 

and that every soul should have its own body.

How Things Hang Together

From Chuang Tzu, fourth century B.C.

She who wants to have right without wrong,
Order without disorder,
Does not understand the principles
Of heaven and earth.
She does not know how
Things hang together.

He Who Breaks Limbs

From Hesiod:

Thus before all else, there came into being the Gaping Chasm, Chaos, but there followed the broad-chested Earth, Gaia, the forever-secure seat of the immortals . . . and also Love, Eros, the most beautiful of the immortal gods, he who breaks limbs

More Li Po

Ballad of the Voyager

Sea voyager, on Heaven's winds,
in his ship, far wandering.
Like a bird, among the clouds,
gone, he'll leave no trace.

by Li Po

Summit Temple

Summit Temple
by Li Po

This night, in Summit Temple,
I raise my hand and touch the stars.
I wouldn't dare to raise my voice,
for fear I'd wake them, up in Heaven.