Need to sound wise or profound? A large list of quotes is here.
My Exalted scholar is going to drop kick a couple of Confucius quotes into play. I'll show those monks why they are afraid of my long-lost great-grandfather.
Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.
I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others.
Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.
Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.
The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it.
There are three things which the superior man guards against. In youth...lust. When he is strong...quarrelsomeness. When he is old...covetousness.
All attributed to Confucius. Note that some may contradict libertarian ideals; the character is part of a feudal/ totalitarian society- I don't think the path of enlightenment will go directly to anarchy.
Other fun statements that sound wise:
To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.
If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.
Knowledge and timber shouldn't be much used till they are seasoned.
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival.
Anger at lies lasts forever. Anger at truth can't last.
There's also this page, which attempts to explain all of Eastern ethics. Sort of.
Interesting thought [which is undoubtedly simplified]: the Chinese interpreted the Mandate of Heaven as contingent on the superior's actions - an order to do something wrong should be refused, could lead to the person's death, but such people were celebrated as martyrs. In India and Japan the Mandate was absolute- one should always follow a superior's orders.
There is also Zen and the Art of Divebombing, which discusses the "aestheticization of brutal violence," which possibly has happened in the world of the Dragon-Blooded, whether consciously or unconsciously on the part of the game designers. How and whether to work this into a theme of a story, I dunno.
Posted by Owlish at January 23, 2006 06:43 PM | TrackBack