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Words of Wisdom"I am like an autumn leaf.
I am happy wherever the wind blows me."ON FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY
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Words of Wisdom"I am like an autumn leaf.
I am happy wherever the wind blows me."ON FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY
Man being condemned to be free carries the weight of the whole world on his shoulders; he is responsible for the world and for himself as a way of being ...
There are no accidents in a life; a community event which suddenly bursts forth and involves me in it does not come from the outside. If I am mobilized in a war, this war is my war; it is in my image and I deserve it. I deserve it first because I could always get out of it ... For lack of getting out of it I have chosen it ... If therefore I have prefered war to death or dishonour, everything takes place as if I bore entire responsibility for this war ... There was no compulsion here, for the compulsion could have not got a hold on freedom. I did not have any excuse; for ... the peculiar character of human-reality is that it is without excuse.
Excerpt from "Being and Nothingness" by Jean Paul Sartre
As translated by Hazel E. Barnes
Most people fret about themselves and their status,
What is success and what is failure?
If you have prestige and favour,
What does it mean that success is a problem?
It means that people are too wound up in themselves.
If you can put yourself aside -
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Listen, give up trying to be so learned
Is there really a difference between a yes
Is there really much of a difference
What the people are afraid of I also need to fear.
And what do most people do? They go
They go looking for fool's gold
Only, you see, I am lazy
What do the people want? Money and things.
Most people seem to be bright and sharp
The people, the people are like waves of sea
And the people, the people are so busy!
I am different, I am strange.
but you don't have to do this.
all you worry about is that it'll get taken away.
And if you have a lowly place,
you are still basically afraid.
So both, at the root, make for fear.
If they weren't so self-obsessed
they'd have no need to be worried.
then you can do things for the whole of the world.
And if you love the world, like this
then you are ready to serve it.
As translated by
Man-Ho Kwok, Martin Palmer and Jay Ramsay
Chapter XIII
And things will be a lot easier.
And a no said insincerely?
Between being angry and pretending not to be?
looking for a good time.
and auspicious signs.
And I don't give a damn about fame and money.
I am like a child who can not bring himself to smile.
And yet I find I have nothing, and I don't care.
I am as unambitious as any fool.
And how do I feel? Like a blunted sword.
And I am drifting between them wherever they are blown.
But I have nothing to bother about. I am a bumpkin, a lout.
I live for the Mother.
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
As translated by
Man-Ho Kwok, Martin Palmer and Jay Ramsay
Chapter XX
What really matters most,
If you pour all your energy into one thing,
If you are not always wanting, you can be at peace.
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
A great thing done is never perfect -
Real richness means to act as if you had nothing,
The greatest straightness seems bent,
Act calmly, not coldly.
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
I have three pricelss treasures:
If I have compassion, you will die for me. I know that.
These days people scorn compassion. They try to be tough.
I tell you that way is Death's.
If you have loved your people, you will know it,
This is the protection of Heaven, and your harvest.
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
If you are really that curious, my name is Leonardo and I am the author of these pages. There is nothing special or extraordinary about me. I am just an average thirty-one-year-old man. I live in Canada. I work as a chemist in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Alberta. Before I used to teach chemistry at Grant MacEwan College. I am not a professional designer, just an amateur. Some of my friends like my old profile, so I decided to put it here again.
Your image or your soul?
What do you care about,
Your money or your life?
What is actually the best,
Making it - or losing?
You are sure to harm the rest of your being
And if you invest it all in profit -
You'll end up losing the whole lot.
And if you are not always trying to be someone
You can be who you really are
and go the whole way
As translated by
Man-Ho Kwok, Martin Palmer and Jay Ramsay
Chapter XLIV
But that does not mean it fails: it does what it is.
Because then you will never be drained of it.
The greatest ability seems awkward,
And the greatest speech, like a stammering.
Peace is greater than anger.
Tranquility and harmony
are the true order of things.
As translated by
Man-Ho Kwok, Martin Palmer and Jay Ramsay
Chapter XLV
The first is Compassion
the second, thrift
And the third is that I never want to be ahead of you.
If I waste nothing, I can give myself to you all -
And if I don't seem perfect, then you'll trust me to lead you.
They spend all they have, and yet want to be generous.
They despise humility, and want to be the best.
they will fight tooth and nail for you in attack or defence.
As translated by
Man-Ho Kwok, Martin Palmer and Jay Ramsay
Chapter LXVII
Leonardo Alvarado León © 1996 - 1999.
