"In protecting oneself, others are protected; in protecting
others, oneself is protected."
- Prince Siddartha Gautama, Sage of the
Sakyas
“Our own life is the instrument with which
we experiment with truth”.
- Thich Nhat Hanh (b.1926). Vietnamese monk
and leading proponent of Engaged Buddhism,
he persuaded Martin Luther King against US-Vietnam
war, and led efforts all he could to save the vietnamese boat
people in the Gulf of Siam.
“A mighty flame followeth a tiny spark.”
“The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain
their neutrality in times of moral crisis.”
- Dante Alighieri (1265 – 1321, Exiled to death). Italy’s
greatest poet, moral philosopher and political activist, Father of
Italian language, and infuenced almost all of western philosophies.
Dante was the originator of the concept of De Monarchia or “World
Government” – now called the United Nations.
“For a country to have a great writer is like having a second
government. That is why no regime has ever loved great writers,
only minor ones.
Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the
conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize
the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice
of justice.
Literature becomes the living memory of a nation.”
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918 – 200
Imprisoned under the brutal gulag system, he continued to
write out the “stalinist” evil residing in fear within the russian
people in the dark cell, which was secretly let out and published
in the form of samizdat (underground notes or documents written in
hand). Nobel Prize in Literature (1970).
"A leader is best when people barely know he exists. Not so good
when people obey and acclaim him. Worse when they despise him. But
of a good leader who talks little. When his work is done, His aim
fulfilled, They will say "We did it ourselves."
"Rule a kingdom as though you were cooking a small fish — don't
overdo it."
- Li Erh (6th century BC). He began a series of
quest into the deep knowledge of the universe, and found no true
laws but constant changes. This was passed down as the Book of
Changes and influenced the chinese philosophies and the world over.
He is better known as Lao Tse ("老子"), Founder of Taoism.
"When we undertake a task, we should not falter from first to
last until the task is accomplished; if we fail, we should not
begrudge our lives as a sacrifice-this is what we mean by loyalty.
The ancient teaching of loyalty meant sometimes death."
- Sun Wen (1866 - 1925). Arrested, detained, kidnapped, mocked,
ridiculed, and with the failure more than 10 times major
uprisings and the death of countless revolutionaries, he
destroyed 5000 years of monarchism with three principles
of nationalism, democracy, and the people's livelihood. He is
better known as Sun Yat Sen, First President and Father of the
Republic of China.
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