American Tao -- no. 13

Is arrogance unavoidable

when you seek your own acclaim?

Is hope the delusion

that there is no death?

Another in the "who said it?"

genre: The worst thing is not

to fail to reach the top

of the ladder, but to reach

the top of the ladder

and realize it's up against

the wrong building.

You are not permanent.

Be of the earth,

and for the earth,

before you are planted

in the ground.