LIV
Guarding Against Insouciance
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Worse than excessive rage is the unguardedness that cometh of self-complacency.
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A false sense of security killeth glory even as indigence crusheth the understanding.
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Glory is not for the unwatchful: that is the conclusion of every school of thinkers in the world.
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Of what use are fortresses to the cowardly? or abundance of resources to the incautious?
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He who faileth to guard against everything beforehand will deplore his negligence when he is surprised by disaster.
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If thou relax not in thy vigilance at all times and against all men, there is nothing like it.
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Nothing is impossible to the man who can bring unto his work a mind that is ever wakeful and cautious.
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The prince shall devote himself assiduously to works that are commended by the wise: if he neglect them he will suffer in all his future births.
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When thou art tempted to be self-complacent and elated, call to thy kind those that have perished by their supineness.
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Verily it is easy for a man to achieve all that he desireth, provided he keepeth his purpose constantly before his mind.