Tao Te Ching

The Power of Goodness, the Wisdom Beyond Words
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Bacchae Βάκχαι

By Euripides

One of the greatest tragedies ever written, The Bacchae depicts the archetypal conflict between the two conflicting aspects of human nature: the rational and the instinctive. We graphically see the ways our genetic, sensual, feeling-level impulses war with our analytical, superego, judicious judgments. It’s the dance between the Confucian and Taoist approach, the interplay between understanding the words and the reality, the desire to know ahead of time how to act and what to do meeting the momentary, undefinable realities requiring creative spontaneity. Another, central theme is the interaction between the traditional Greek religious view and the Babylonian, Zoroastrian approach that entered Greek consciousness because of the Persian Wars. A favorite of Horace, the play had a huge impact on both Greek and Roman literature but was later considered “too gruesome.” Interest was revived when Nietzsche wrote Birth of Tragedy and it became an important influence on Henrik Ibsen, Thomas Mann, and even Oliver Stone's 2004 film Alexander.

Quotes from Bacchae Βάκχαι

“Do not mistake the rule of force for true power. Men are not shaped by force.”

Chapters:

Themes: Aggression Power

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“Gods manifest themselves in many forms,
Bring many matters to surprising ends;
The things we thought would happen do not;
The unexpected occurs.”

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Themes: Illusion God

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“Greedy for sights you should not see, impatient for deeds you should not do... he who best enjoys each passing day is truly blessed.”

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“Holiness is a word I love to hear. It sounds like wings to me, wings brushing the world, grazing my life.”

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“I count it madness and know no cure can mend
The evil man and his evil way.”

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Themes: Evil

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“I go to lead my sisters by the hand
To share my wretche ness in a foreign land.”

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Themes: Suffering

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“On, on! Run, dance, delirious, possessed! You, the beauty and grace of golden Tmolus... sing for joy. Like a foal with its mother at pasture, runs and leaps for joy every daughter of Bacchus.”

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“Power and eloquence in a headstrong man can only lead to folly; and such a man is a danger to the state.”

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Themes: Leadership

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“Pride more than age hastens life to its end;
And they who in pride pretend
Beyond man's limit, will lose what lay
Close to their hand and sure.”

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“Ten thousand men possess ten thousand hopes. A few bear fruit in happiness; the others go awry. But he who garners day by day the good life, he is happiest.”

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Themes: Hope Happiness

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“The earth flows with milk, flows with wine, flows with nectar of bees;
Possessed, ecstatic, he leads their happy cries;
Run, dance, delirious, possessed! Sing for joy, praise Dionysus, god of joy!”

Chapters:

Themes: Sacred World

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“The noblest thing a man can have is a humble and quiet heart... the wisest thing for a man to possess, if he but use it.”

Chapters:

Themes: Humility

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“They will say I have no sense of what befits my age but they will be wrong. It's a happy thing to forget one's age. The gods have drawn no distinction between young and old, which should dance and which should not.”

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“To stand from Fear set free, to breathe and wait; to hold a hand uplifted over Hate; what else is Wisdom?”

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Themes: Wisdom Fear Hate

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“We run with the god of laughter;
Labor is joy and weariness is sweet”

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“Wise words sleep in a foolish ear.”

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Themes: Poetry

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“Wise words sleep in a foolish ear.”

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Themes: Contemplation

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“You do not know what life you live, or what you do, or who you are.”

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Themes: Know Yourself

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“You rely on force; but it is not force that governs human affairs.”

Chapters:

Themes: Aggression

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“Zeus and Hera were arguing about who got more pleasure from sex: men or women. To settle the argument, they called for Tiresias, who had lived as both. Tiresias took the side of Zeus, saying that women’s pleasure was greater, and Hera, in her fury, turned him blind.”

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