Many who have learned
from Hesiod the countless names
of gods and monsters
never understand
that night and day are one
Time is a game played beautifully by children.
Even a soul submerged in sleep
is hard at work and helps
make something of the world.
To be evenminded
is the greatest virtue.
Wisdom is to speak
the truth and act
in keeping with its nature.
Whoever cannot seek the unforeseen sees nothing for the known way is an impasse.
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Wisdom is the oneness of mind that guides and permeated all things.
(translated by Brooks Haxton)
People ought to fight
to keep their law
as to defend the citys walls.
People do not know how what is at variance agrees with itself. It is an attunement of opposite tensions, like that of the bow and the lyre.
The waking have one world in common; sleepers have each a private world of his own.
Traveling on every path, you will not find the boundaries of soul by going; so deep is its measure.
Other men are unaware of what they do when they are awake just as they are forgetful of what they do when they are asleep.
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