Miscellaneous Sayings and Precepts

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter eight of the Sayings of Laoutsu by Laudsu, translated
by Lionel Giles. This LibriVox recording is in the public
domain recording by Nemo Miscellaneous sayings and precepts. By many words,
wit is exhausted. It is better to retain what is

(00:22):
in the heart. The excellence of a dwelling is its sight.
The excellence of a mind is its profundity. The excellence
of giving is charitableness. The excellence of speech is truthfulness.
The excellence of government is order. The excellence of action
is ability. The excellence of movement is timeliness. He who

(00:45):
grasps more than he can hold would be better without
any If a house is crammed with treasures of gold
and jade, it will be impossible to guard them all.
He who prides himself upon wealth and honor hastens his
own downfall. He who strikes with a sharp point will
not himself be safe for long. By uniting the intelligent

(01:06):
and animal souls and embracing unity, can you avoid dissolution
by concentrating your breath and striving to make it soft?
Can you become like a little child by purifying your
spiritual vision? Can you become without a flaw. The sage
attends to the inner and not to the outer. He

(01:28):
puts away the objective and holds to the subjective. Between
yes and yea, how small the difference between good and evil,
how great the difference. What the world reverences. May not
be treated with disrespect. He who is not faith in
others shall find no faith in them. To see one's

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self is to be clear of sight. Mighty is he
who conquers himself. He who raises himself on tiptoe cannot
stand firm. He who stretches sleighs wide apart cannot walk.
Racing and hunting excite man's heart to madness. The struggle
for rare possessions drives a man to actions injurious to himself.

(02:14):
The heavy is the foundation of the light. Repose is
the ruler of unrest. The wise Prince, in his daily course,
never departs from gravity and repose. Though he possesses a
gorgeous palace, he will dwell therein with calm indifference. How
should the lord of a myriad chariots conduct himself with

(02:35):
levity in the empire. Levity loses men's hearts, unrest loses
the throne. The skillful traveler leaves no tracks. The skillful
speaker makes no blunders. The skillful reckoner uses no tallies.
He who knows how to shut uses no bolts, Yet

(02:55):
you cannot open. He who knows how to bind uses
no courseords, Yet you cannot undo. Among men, reject none,
among things, reject nothing. This is called comprehensive intelligence. The
good man is the bad man's teacher. The bad man

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is the material upon which the good man works. If
the 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,
as unwrought materials divided up and made into serviceable vessels.

(03:38):
So the sage turns his simplicity to account, and thereby
becomes the ruler of rulers. The course of things is
such that what was in front is now behind, What
was hot is now cold, what was strong is now weak,
What was complete is now in ruin. Therefore this sage

(04:00):
avoids success, extravagance and grandeur, which is nearer to you,
fame or life, which is more to you, life or wealth,
which is the greater malady, gain or loss, excessive ambitions
necessarily entail great sacrifice. Much hoarding must be followed by

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heavy loss. He who knows when he has enough will
not be put to shame. He who knows when to
stop will not come to harm. Such a man can
look forward to long life. There is no sin greater
than yielding to ambition, no calamity greater than discontent, no
vice greater than covetousness. He who has known the contentment

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of being contented will always be content. Do not wish
to be rare like jade, or common like stone. The
Sage has no hard and fast ideas, but he shares
the ideas of the people and makes them his own.
Living in the world world, he has the appearance of timidity,
and for the world's sake, keeps his mind in a

(05:05):
state of flux. The people all fix their eyes and
ears upon him. The Sage looks upon all as his children.
I have heard that he who possesses the secret of life,
when traveling abroad will not flee from rhinoceros or tiger.
When entering a hostile camp, he will not equip himself

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with sword or buckler. The rhinoceros finds in him no
place to insert its horn. The tiger has nowhere to
fasten its claw. The soldier has nowhere to thrust his blade,
and why because he has no spot where death can enter.
To see small beginnings is clearness of sight. To rest

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in weakness is strength. He who knows how to plant
shall not have his plant uprooted. He who knows how
to hold a thing shall not have it taken away.
Sons and grandsons will worship at his shrine, which shall
endure from generation to generation. Knowledge of harmonies the secret
of the unchanging. Knowledge of the unchanging means enlightenment. To

(06:13):
increase life is of evil omen the mind directing the
vital force his strength. The sage is square but not angular,
strict without injuring others, straightforward but not unrestrained, luminous but
not dazzling. Good words shall gain you honor in the
market place, but good deeds shall gain your friends. Among men.

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To the good, I would be good. To the not good,
I would also be good in order to make them good.
With the faithful, I would keep faith. With the unfaithful,
I would also keep faith in order that they may
become faithful. Even if a man is bad, How can
it be right to cast him off, requite injury with kindness.

(07:00):
The difficult things of this world must once have been easy.
The great things of this world must once have been small.
Set about difficult things while they are still easy. Do
great things while they are still small. The sage never
affects to do anything great, and therefore he is able
to achieve his great results. He who always thinks things easy,

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is sure to find them difficult. Therefore, the sage ever
anticipates difficulties, and thus it is he never encounters him.
While times are quiet, it is easy to take action.
Ere coming troubles have cast their shadows. It is easy
to lay plans. That which is brittle is easily broken,

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that which is minute is easily dissipated. Take precautions before
the evil appears. Regulate things before disorder has begun. The tree,
which needs two arms to span its girth, sprang from
the tiniest shoot. Yon tower, nine stories high, rose from
a little mound of earth. A journey of a thousand

(08:05):
miles began with a single step. A great principle cannot
be divided. Therefore it is that many containers cannot contain it.
The sage knows what is in him, but makes no display.
He respects himself, but seeks not honor for himself to know,

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but to be as though not knowing is the height
of wisdom, not to know, and yet to affect knowledge
as a vice. If we regard this vice as such,
we shall escape it. The sage has not this vice.
It is because he regards it as a vice that
he escapes it. Use the light that is in you
to revert to your natural clearness of sight. Then the

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loss of the body is unattended by calamity. This is
called doubly enduring. In the management of affairs, people constantly
break down just when they are nearing a successful If
they took as much care at the end as at
the beginning, they would not fail in their enterprises. He

(09:08):
who lightly promises is sure to keep, but little faith.
He whose boldness leads him to venture will be slain.
He who is brave enough not to venture will live.
Of these two, one has the benefit, the other has
the hurt. But who is it that knows the real
cause of Heaven's hatred? This is why the sage finds

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it difficult to act. The violent and stiff neck dye
not by natural death. True words are not fine, fine
words are not true. The good are not contentious, The
contentious are not good. This is the way of Heaven,
which benefits and injures not. This is the way of

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the Sage, in whose actions there is no element of strife.
And of miscellaneous sayings and precepts,