When water is still,

Its clearness shows the eyes

And even eyelashes of one

Who looks into it.

It is a perfect level

And every great leader

Or writer or artificer

Take their rules from it.

Such is the clearness of still water

And how much greater is that

Of the human spirit

Expressed spontaneously!

The still mind is the mirror

Of Heaven and Earth,

The magnifying glass

Of the myriad things. . .

Hence, vacancy and stillness,

Placidity and tastelessness,

Quietude and silence

Are the root of all and sundry.

This is the level of perfection

Of the ways of all great leaders,

Damned good writers and artificers

And their proper characteristics.

When this is understood

We find the true men who lead

Their families, their communities

And the entire states.