Nguyen Trai
Nguyen Trai (1380-1442) was a Vietnamese poet and leading figure in Vietnamese history and literature who fought for national independence under Le Loi and later executed when fell into disfavour.Wisdom & Quotes
- I have come out of brambles and thorns, paid with my skin to chase the aggressors. I have worn a coat of armour and slept in fields. I have known peril and danger, braved sabers and swords, and swept aside clouds and hurricanes to find the Empire and the price of innumerable difficulties. You who, because of my work, will succeed me, must not seek pleasure.
- Whether it be to promote a talented man, to receive criticism, to develop policy, or merely to pronounce a single word or make a single gesture, keep the rule of the Golden Mean. …To hold in esteem those who possess the virtue of humanity is to be assured of the consent of the people who bear the throne, like the ocean which carries the ship but can also overturn it.
- All I steal is room for a hut,
Wind blows in, sweeps my floor,
Moon at the door in my lamp.
...
I lean on a tree, happy in the shade:
Lonely, but glad to be alone.
- Stolen from Nature
John Ball