THE TAO OF WATER

Remembered by Ioan Tenner in 1990

This is yet and forever an un-carved block of water.

• ** ”Nothing in the world is weaker than water. But it has no better in overcoming the hard” Lao Tzu Tao te Ching

• ** “Just as water flows from a higher level to a lower level, an army should avoid strength and attack weakness. Just as water adapts to the contours of the land, an army should adapt its plans to suit the enemy. Just as water has no fixed form, warfare has no inflexible rules.” (Sun Tzu, The Art of War)

•  All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. (Qoheleth  1,4-11) Tous les fleuves vont à la mer, mais la mer, elle, n’est pas plus pleine. Vers la demeure où vont les fleuves, là-bas ils recommencent d’aller.

• “You would drink from a cup, but not from a surging river.” (Kahlil Gibran)

• The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea." (Tagore)

• ** When you want to grow something, water it. -  When you want to kill it, flood it.

• *** He that has satisfied his thirst turns his back on the well, and the orange once squeezed falls from the golden platter into the waste basket. (Balthasar Gracián)

• ** Water always finds the way downward where it belongs.

• ** On a straight path water flows straight. Through rocky landscapes the creek is devious.

• ** If you keep swimming, God will hear your prayer. (Arab).

• ** It is more intelligent to sail than to row.

• A great ship asks deep water." George Herbert

• ** Down the water you will get far and easy. Against the current, gauge your forces.

• ** When the water rises, so does the boat. (Hagakure)

• ** Water has no feelings, yet it can be quiet or furious.

• ** You only worry about the well when it has run dry.

• ** Still waters are known to be deep.

• *** The tranquil pond is a perfect mirror. Troubled water only shows its own mud.

• *** Water is without form. It moulds to any form and fills any form.

• ** Water gives way, goes around, and soaks through. Can you do the same?

• ** Water quietly erodes; dissolving, polishing, rusting, and freezing into tiny cracks.

• ** Each dewdrop is the centre of the world.

• How can you drink from the source, yet keep your lips dry?

• ** If you need to lead water, dig in front of it, not behind it.

• ** The source is easily troubled. You can not clear it with a stick. Just leave it in peace for a while. (Baltasar Gracián)

• ** It rains and then it stops. Everything has a beginning and an end.

• ** Fishes do not know what water is.  The obvious has no name. Zen

• ** How many times can the pitcher go to the well? Romanian saying

• ** You should not wait until you are thirsty to dig your well.

• ** The river only flows from the source to the sea. Vietnamese

• ** If you have the patience to wait by the river, you will see floating down the dead bodies of all your foes. Provided you can live with the risk of your own body floating down to the joy of other enemies who know to wait. Chinese proverb

• ** A glass of water can put out a starting fire. Moments later you need many buckets.  Soon, a whole river will hardly extinguish it.

• ** You can not add even a drop into a full cup. Sufi, Zen

• You could not step twice into the same rivers (Heraclitus of Ephesus)

• ** For the thirsty, plain water is so sweet!

• The most important under water is to remember to breathe. (Australian Underwater Association manual)

• Don't empty the water jar until the rain falls.(Philippine proverb)

• ** The water a cow drinks, turns into milk. The water a snake drinks turns into poison. (Zenrin Kushu)

• ** How many drops make the Chinese drop?

• ** No more water in the pail, no more moon in the water. Zen

• Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable? Gibran

• Don’t spit in the well. You may need later to drink from it. (Romanian saying)

• ** You can take the horse to the water but you cannot make him drink.

• ** Deep in the sea are riches beyond compare. But if you seek safety, it is on the shore. (Idries Shah, The way of the Sufi)

• Rain does not fall on one roof alone.(Proverb from Cameroon)

• Remember: you don’t water the earth, you water the plants.

• ** A fool throws a stone in the pond and a hundred wise men cannot take it out. (Romanian)