Ancient Wisdom

To Socrates the wife of a certain man said, "How ugly is thy face, O Socrates!" And Socrates replied unto her, saying, "If thou thyself hadst been a clean mirror I should have been distressed [by thy words]; but since thou art a dirty one my beauty is not reflected by thee. I do not, however, blame thee because of it."

Another [disciple] said unto him, "If the vessel wherein thou hidest were to be broken, what wouldst thou do?"  Socrates replied, "Even if the vessel were to be broken, the place in which it is would not be broken."

A certain disciple of Socrates said unto him, "How is it that I see in thee no sign of sorrow?"  Socrates replied, "Because I possess nothing for which "I should sorrow if it perished."

The Imam invited 'Nasrudin ' to supper, but ( when the Mulla arrived he found the table bare and the Imam eager to hear his own voice. For several hours, the spiritual leader told tales of prophets and miracles, kings and oppressors, until ' Nasrudin ' was practically fainting with hunger. ‘Excuse me,’ he said eventually. ‘You have a question?’ asked the Imam, hoping for some religious comment. ‘Only one,’ replied the ' Mulla' . ‘Did any of these people ever eat' -

One day the Mulla was taking a donkey-load of salt to market, and drove the ass through a stream. The salt was dissolved. The Mulla was angry at the loss of his load. The ass was frisky with relief. Next time he passed that way he had a load of wool. After the animal had passed through the stream, the wool was thoroughly soaked, and very heavy. The donkey staggered under the soggy load. ‘Ha!’ shouted the Mulla, ‘you thought you would get off lightly every time you went through water, didn’t you ?’ 

There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, said to be told in Japan. An American tourist is being shown around a shrine; he and his guide come to a light burning on a kind of altar. “That flame” quavers the aged Oriental custodian, “has been burning for a thousand years ...” The American leans over and blows it out. “Well, it’s stopped now, hasn’t it?”

There was once a dervish who had sixty disciples. He had taught them as well as he could, and the time had come to undergo a new experience. He called the disciples together and said: ‘We must now go on a long journey. Something, I am not sure what, will happen on the way. Those of you who have absorbed enough to enter this stage will be able to accompany me. ‘But first you must all memorize this phrase, “I must die instead of the dervish.” Be prepared to shout this out at any time, whenever I raise both my arms.’ Some of the disciples started muttering among themselves, now highly suspicious of the dervish’s motives. No less than fifty-nine of the sixty deserted him, saying, ‘He knows that he will be in danger at some time, and is preparing to sacrifice us instead of himself!’ They said to him, ‘You may even be planning some crime— perhaps even a murder; we can never follow you on terms like that.’ The dervish and his sole remaining companion started the journey. Now a most terrible a...

Nasrudin and his son were casting their lines when a sudden whirlwind darkened the horizon. “Oh merciful God,” Nasrudin implored, “save our fragile boat and I promise to gift a needy man with a camel as enormous as a house!” “Father, where will you find such a gigantic camel?” the son asked, puzzled. Nasrudin replied with a grin, “That’s a problem for when we’re safely ashore.”

They who expect to live without enemies, yet have no kindness for others, are like one who should try to hold a heated body without dipping it in water. Men expect by their own darkness to enlighten others. The artisan may give a man compass and square, but he cannot make him skillful in the use of them.

Once upon a time, a Lion was rudely awakened from his slumber by a little Mouse scampering over his face. In a flash of anger, the Lion caught him and was ready to end his life. However, the Mouse, trembling with fear, pleaded, "Please spare my life, and I promise to repay your kindness someday." Amused by the idea, the Lion chuckled and released him. Not long after, the Lion found himself ensnared by some hunters, bound tightly to the ground with strong ropes. Hearing the Lion's mighty roar, the Mouse hurried to his side and gnawed through the ropes with his sharp teeth, setting the Lion free. "You once laughed at the thought of me ever helping you or repaying your favor," said the Mouse. "But now you see, even a tiny Mouse can bring great benefits to a mighty Lion."

Lao Tzu There is no sin greater than ambition ; no calamity greater than discontent; no vice more sickening than covetousness. He who is content, always has enough.

Excessive ambitions necessarily entail great sacrifices. Much hoarding must be followed by heavy loss. He who knows when he has enough will not be put to shame. Such a man can look forward to long life.

Lao Tzu The good man is the bad man's teacher; the bad man is the material upon which the good man works. If one does not value his teacher, if the other does not love his material, then despite their sagacity they must go far astray. This is a mystery of great import.

Once a man went to the dwelling-place of a Sage and said to him: "I want to discuss my problem with you.' 'And I', said the Sage, 'do not want to discuss it.' The man was annoyed. 'How can you decide that, when you do not know my problem?' The Sage smiled. 'Why should you bring a problem to me if I do not know about it, and do not have perception greater than others?' Now the visitor was both confused and anxious. "Tell me what my problem is, then, and that will convince me' he said. 'O human being!' said the Sage, 'you are almost completely awry. If I show you that I know what is in your mind, I shall divert your attention to "the miraculous", and fail in my duty of Service as against theatrical performance.' 'Well, then, 'said the man, 'give me the solution to the problem, alone, thus fulfilling the requirement of Service.' 'But I cannot understand you at all said the visitor; 'I am no...

A dervish, instructing a disciple, said, There is only one way to make people hear you. You must know what you are saying, and you must have the necessary conduct for people to hear you’ The disciple, irritated by the long time which his ancient mentor was taking to give out his wisdom, felt that he had heard enough, and went on his way. For some years he studied the art of knowing what he was saying, and cultivated the conduct of a good man. People began to respect him, and few left his presence without remarking what a pure soul he was. One day a young man arrived at the town where he was to make a speech. The youth kept shouting scandal, and everyone listened to him. Hardly anyone went to the lecture by the dervish’s pupil. So he went back to his old master, now over a hundred years old, and asked him to explain. ‘Ah’, said the ancient, 'you are the man who did not wait to hear the end of the teaching. You see, you have to be the kind of saint that people want at the time. If th...

  An Eastern King was very angry with a certain chieftain who had not seen him at court, though often desired to do so. One day he was walking through the streets of his capital in disguise with his chief minister, according to the custom of kings in the East, to see how the people fared. Soon after passing a butcher's shop, the king said to his minister, "Instantly the chieftain arrives in the city, send him up to me." When the minister returned to his palace, he found the chieftain on his way to the court. "Pray, don't see his Majesty till I ask you to do so; and don't ask me for the reason now," said the minister to the chieftain, who therefore postponed his visit. The king came to know of this, and asked the minister why he had done so. "Sire," said the minister, "your order to send up the chieftain was given after passing a butcher's shop, and you meant to flay him like a sheep; so I asked him to see you some time after, when you ...

 A Jackdaw once ran up to a glow-worm, and was about to seize him. "Wait a moment, good friend," said the worm; "and you shall hear something to your advantage." "Ah! what is it?" said the daw. "I am but one of the many glow-worms that live in this forest. If you wish to have them all, follow me," said the glow-warm. "Certainly!" said the daw. Then the glow warm-led him to a place in the wood where a fire had been kindled by some woodmen, and pointing to the sparks flying about, said, "There you find the flow-worms warming themselves round a fire. When you have done with them, I shall show you some more, at a distance from this place." The daw darted at the sparks, and tried to swallow some of them; but his mouth being burnt by the attempt, he ran away exclaiming, "Ah! the glow-worm is a dangerous little creature!" Said the glow-worm with pride, "Wickedness yields to wisdom!"

Once upon a time there were some rats. Nothing remarkable happened to them until they started to develop ambition. Their ambition took the form of wanting to be much, much bigger than they were at the time. Almost all their activities began to be directed towards this end. In the course of time they started to breed as larger and larger rats. The first noteworthy event in their history was when men, realizing that these rats were large enough, began to hunt them for their skins. The second event was when other men realised that they could trap them and exhibit them as the ‘biggest rats in the world’. The third important event will, no doubt, be reported to you when it takes place