“To know something is not as good as to love it; to love it is not as good as to take joy in it."
“The Master said, ‘If because a man’s discourse appears solid and sincere, we allow him to be a good man, is he really a superior man? Or is his gravity only an appearance?’” Analects 6:20*
Sorrow
What joy is there to seek in hollow words,
when falsehoods thicken like a gathering storm?
What peace can rise from love that goes unheard,
a fleeting shape, a shadow, barely warm?
If you have heart
let kindness be its voice,
let wisdom guide its hand.
Let no deceit, no harm,
no careless choice
betray the light you hold.
Find joy in simple things
the dawn’s first blush,
the truth that hums beneath the noise.
Love without chains,
without demand,
and walk the path
where quiet strength
and patient grace
become the roots of wisdom.
*James Legge, trans., The Chinese Classics Vol. 1: Confucian Analects (London: St. George Press, 2024), II: XXIV pg. 244.