The young see what they wish to see. The old see what they do not wish.
prophecies do not alter fate, only confirm it.
Principles have a way of yielding to power.
A secret, like a chore, always seems to lead to another, one even more troublesome than the first.
to ask for anything of consequence from friends who cannot refuse is uncivilized.
Like most Chinese, I am basically a fatalist - too sophisticated for religion and too superstitious to deny the gods.