Ancient Wisdom

Rule the state with rectitude. Direct the army with trickery. Capture the world through inactivity. How can I know it shall be so? By this:          When the world is full of taboos and prohibitions,               The people will become very poor.          When the people possess many sharp weapons,               The nation will become more chaotic.          When the people possess much craftiness,               Trickery will flourish.     When law and order become more conspicuous,               There will be more robbers and thieves. Therefore the Sage says:          I do not act and the people reform themselves;          I love serenity and the people rectify themselves;          I employ inactivity and the people become prosperous          I have no desires and the people become simple by themselves. (Lao Tzu)

  Halls and Theological colleges and learned lectures, study circles and cloisters- What use are they when there is no knowledge and there is no eye that sees? [Hafiz Sheerazi]

Once a tailor was cutting a suit for his customer. He turned the piece fo material over and over for a long time without being able to bring himself to use the scissors. The apprentice boy finally asked him why he hesitated, and the answer was, "If I cut something out for him there would be nothing for me, if I cut something for me there would be nothing for him." [Chinese Wit and Humour by edited by George Kao]

  Confucius said: "At fifteen, I had the will to learn, at thirty I could stand, at forty, I had no doubt, at fifty, I understood the heavenly Bidding, at sixty, my ears were opened, at seventy, I could do as my heart lusted without trespassing from the square.