Opening paragraphs.....................

 

A LETTER FROM CAPTAIN GULLIVER TO HIS COUSIN SYMPSON.

Written in the Year 1727.

I hope you will be ready to own publicly, whenever you shall be called to it, that by your great and frequent urgency you prevailed on me to publish a very loose and uncorrect account of my travels, with directions to hire some young gentleman of either university to put them in order, and correct the style, as my cousin Dampier did, by my advice, in his book called “A Voyage round the world.” But I do not remember I gave you power to consent that any thing should be omitted, and much less that any thing should be inserted; therefore, as to the latter, I do here renounce every thing of that kind; particularly a paragraph about her majesty Queen Anne, of most pious and glorious memory; although I did reverence and esteem her more than any of human species. But you, or your interpolator, ought to have considered, that it was not my inclination, so was it not decent to praise any animal of our composition before my master Houyhnhnm: And besides, the fact was altogether false; for to my knowledge, being in England during some part of her majesty’s reign, she did govern by a chief minister; nay even by two successively, the first whereof was the lord of Godolphin, and the second the lord of Oxford; so that you have made me say the thing that was not. Likewise in the account of the academy of projectors, and several passages of my discourse to my master Houyhnhnm, you have either omitted some material circumstances, or minced or changed them in such a manner, that I do hardly know my own work. When I formerly hinted to you something of this in a letter, you were pleased to answer that you were afraid of giving offence; that people in power were very watchful over the press, and apt not only to interpret, but to punish every thing which looked like an innuendo (as I think you call it). But, pray how could that which I spoke so many years ago, and at about five thousand leagues distance, in another reign, be applied to any of the Yahoos, who now are said to govern the herd; especially at a time when I little thought, or feared, the unhappiness of living under them? Have not I the most reason to complain, when I see these very Yahoos carried by Houyhnhnms in a vehicle, as if they were brutes, and those the rational creatures? And indeed to avoid so monstrous and detestable a sight was one principal motive of my retirement hither.

-Jonathan Swift, as culled from this version of Gulliver's Travels

On balance............................

"Life is like riding a bicycle.  To keep your balance you must keep moving."

-a loose translation of Albert Einstein's  “Beim Menschen ist es wie beim Velo. Nur wenn er faehrt, kann er bequem die Balance halten.”

Thinking this is mostly correct................

"Die Politik ist keine exakte Wissenschaft."

Politics is not an exact science.

-Otto von Bismarck

Fruare die............................

"It helps to seize the day but it is also wise to savor the day."
-Michael Wade, from his latest installment of Random Thoughts


So, the Oracle Google was consulted for a Latin translation for "savor the day."   This is what it provided:

 Best Answer:  Using 'savor' as you have is a sense of the word that veers away from its main uses, and none of the Latin words that translate to 'savor' have followed the same path. I don't know of a Latin expression with the same connotation, but a literal version that fits better is:

Fruare die

The verb 'fruor' means to enjoy, to delight in, to relish. That seems to fit. Note that 'diem' has to be changed to 'die.' That loses the connection to 'carpe diem,' but that's the way the grammar works.

Hmmm...................................................

Tao......................................

Faithful readers will know that the Tao Te Ching holds an attraction for me.  Yesterday friend David posted Chapter 9:

Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people’s approval
and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity


One of the glories of the Tao is the variations between translations into the English language.  For instance:

Instead of keeping a bow taut while holding it straight,
       better to relax.
You may temper a sword until it is razor sharp,
       but you cannot preserve the edge for long.
When gold and jade fill your rooms,
       no one will be able to guard them for you.
If wealth and honor make you haughty,
       you bequeath misfortune upon yourself.
To withdraw when your work is finished,
       that is the way of heaven.
-Tao Te Ching,  Lao Tzu, as translated by Victor Mair



Hold yourself back from filling yourself up,
or you'll tip off your stand.

You can hammer a blade until it's razor-sharp
and in seconds, it can blunt.

You may amass gold and jade in plenty
but then the more you have, the less safety . .

Are you strutting your wealth like a peacock?
Then you've set yourself up to be shot.
You bring about your own disaster
Because you've got too much.

Let go, when your work is done.

That is the Way of Heaven.
-The Illustrated Tao Te Ching, a new translation by Kwok, Palmer and Ramsay


Instead of pouring in more
better stop while you can
making it sharper
won't help it last longer
houses full of treasure
can never be safe
the vanity of success
invites its own failure
when your work is done retire
this is the way of heaven
-Lao-tzu's Taoteching, translated by Red Pine


To keep on filling
is not as good as stopping.
Overfilled, the cupped hands drip,
better to stop pouring.

Sharpen a blade too much
and its edge will soon be lost.
Fill your home with jade and gold
and it brings insecurity.
Puff yourself with honor and pride
and no one can save you from a fall.

Retire when the work is done;
this is the way of heaven.
-Wayne W. Dyer,   Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life:  Living the Wisdom of the Tao

Chapter Twenty-four............................

A man on tiptoe
                           can't walk easily.
The man who strides on ahead is bound to tire.

The kind of person who always insists
on his way of seeing things
can never learn anything from anyone.

Those who always want to be seen
will never help others to be.

The showman is never
secretly respected by anyone.

People like these, say the Wise Ones
are as useless as the left-over food found at a feast.

No true follower can relate to them.

-Tao Te Ching, translated by Man-ho Kwok, Martin Palmer, and Jay Ramsey

-------------------------------------------------------------

Who is puffed up cannot stand,
Who is self-absorbed has no distinction,
Who is self-revealing does not shine,
Who is self-assertive has no merit,
Who is self-praising does not last long.

As for the Way, we may see these are
     "excess provisions and extra baggage."
Creation abhors such extravagamces.

Therefore,
     One who aspires to the Way
     does not abide in them.

-Tao Te Ching,  Lao Tzu as translated by Victor H. Mair

---------------------------------------------------------------

Who tiptoes doesn't stand
who strides doesn't walk
who watches himself doesn't appear
who displays himself doesn't flourish
who flatters himself achieves nothing
who parades himself doesn't lead
on the road they say
too much food and a tiring pace
some things are simply bad
thus the Taoist shuns them.

-Tao Te Ching, Lao-tzu, as translated by Red Pine