These difficult times spawn difficult questions: Can we support our troops without supporting an ill-conceived war? How can we define winning or losing war and is that an important question? Does the world perceive America to be the bully and does it matter?
President Truman once said that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. Today’s answers can be found in the 6th century B.C. writings of Lao Tsu.
On War:
“Achieve results but never glory in them; a victory of war should be observed like a funeral; a violent man dies a violent death; a great country is like a low land; those who would conquer must yield, and those who conquer do so because they yield; a brave and passionate man will kill or be killed; a brave and calm man will always preserve life.”
On Winning:
“Yield and overcome; know honor, yet keep humility; temper your sharpness; more forcing causes resistance; simplify your problems; misery lurks beneath happiness; one cannot know light without dark; the more the wise man does for others, the more he has.”
On Leadership:
“A wise leader does not use force to conquer the universe for this only causes resistance; the humble is the root of the noble; the greatest virtue is to do without taking credit and to guide without interfering; in caring for others, there is nothing like using restraint that begins with giving up one’s ideas; the wise leader brings men back to what they have lost; the wise leader must serve with humility, if he would lead them, he must follow behind.”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment