If a person gave your body
To any stranger he met on his way
You would certainly be angry
And do you feel no shame?
In handing over your own mind
To be confused and mystified
By anyone who happens
To verbally attack you?
Huh?
In every affair consider
What precedes and follows
And then undertake it
(And then undertake it)
Otherwise you
Will begin with spirit
But not having thought of
The consequences
When some of them appear
You will shamefully desist
"I would conquer at the Olympic games."
But consider what precedes
And follows
And then
If it is for your advantage
Engage in the affair
You must conform to rules
Submit to a diet
Refrain from dainties
Exercise your body
Whether you choose it or not
At a stated hour
In heat in cold
You must drink no cold water
Not even wine
In a word
You must give yourself up to your master
As to a physician
Then, in the combat
You may be thrown into a ditch
Dislocate your arm
Turn your ankle
Swallow dust
Be whipped
And
After all this
Be defeated
If a person gave your body
To any stranger he met on his way
You would certainly be angry
And do you feel no shame?
In handing over your own mind
To be confused and mystified
By anyone who happens
To verbally attack you?
Huh?
If a person gave your body
To any stranger he met on his way
You would certainly be angry
And do you feel no shame?
In handing over your own mind
To be confused and mystified
By anyone who happens
To verbally attack you?
Huh?
When you've evaluated all this
If your inclination still holds
Then go to war
Otherwise take notice
You will behave like children
Who sometimes play like wrestlers
Sometimes gladiators
Sometimes blow a trumpet
And sometimes act a tragedy
When they have seen and admired these shows
Thus you too will be at one time a wrestler
At another gladiator
Now philosopher
Then an orator
But with your whole soul
Nothing at all
Like an ape
You mimic all you see
And one thing after another is sure to please you
But is out of favor
Once it becomes familiar
For you have never entered
Nothing considerately
Nor after having viewed the whole matter on all sides
Or made any scrutiny into it
Rah, but rashly
And with a cold inclination
Cold, cold inclination
If a person gave your body
To any stranger he met on his way
You would certainly be angry
And do you feel no shame?
In handing over your own mind
To be confused and mystified
By anyone who happens
To verbally attack you?
Huh?
If a person gave your body
To any stranger he met on his way
You would certainly be angry
And do you feel no shame?
In handing over your own mind
To be confused and mystified
By anyone who happens
To verbally attack you?
Huh?