Išll see your Confucius and raise you the Lao Tzu (IX, 23):
Rather than fill it to the brim by keeping it upright
Better to have stopped in time;
Hammer it to a point
And the sharpness cannot be preserved for ever;
There may be gold and jade to fill a hall
But there is none who can keep them.
To be overbearing when one has wealth and position
Is to bring calamity upon oneself.
To retire when the task is accomplished
Is the way of heaven.
On 21/2/08 2:37 PM, "Jon Corelis" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> The Master said, Be of unwavering good faith, love learning, if
> attacked be ready to die for the good Way. Do not enter a State that
> pursues dangerous courses nor stay in one where the people have
> rebelled. When the Way prevails under Heaven, then show yourself; when
> it does not prevail, then hide. When the Way prevails in your own
> land, count it a disgrace to be needy and obscure; when the Way does
> not prevail in your land, then count it a disgrace to be rich and
> honored.
>
> Confucius,
> Analects VIII.13, tr. Waley
>
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