“But, father, what would be the best way to gain an advantage over the enemy?”

“By Zeus,” said he, “this is no easy or simple question that you ask now, my son; but, let me tell you, the man who proposes to do that must be designing and cunning, wily and deceitful, a thief and a robber, overreaching the enemy at every point.”

“O Heracles, father,” said Cyrus with a laugh, “what a man you say I must become!”

“Such, my son,” he said, “that you would be at the same time the most righteous and law-abiding man in the world.”

“Why then, pray, did you use to teach us the opposite of this when we were boys and youths?”

“Aye, by Zeus,” said he; “and so we would have you still towards your friends and fellow-citizens; but, that you might be able to hurt your enemies, do you not know that you all were learning many villainies?”

~ Xenophon, Cyropaedia

"𝑷𝒐𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍" - 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏 𝑯𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏

Revolt against the modern world and join a cult. Today, do it right now.

https://youtu.be/tUfyGpxTzQE

"See that you never lose your sense of shame. A man without a sense of shame, what good is he? He lives in a molting state, shedding his honor, and with steps directed toward hell.

You have beauty and bearing, you may well be the lord of some people. If you are of high origin and rising still higher, bear in mind that you must have compassion on the host of the needy. Shield them from distress with generosity and with kindness, and strive for humility. The poor man of good birth may well wrestle with shame—it is a sour business-and you should be ready with help. When you lighten his load God's blessing is near you. He has it worse than those who come to the window for bread.

Be both poor and rich appropriately: if a lord squanders, that is not lord-like; if he hoards treasure too much, that is dishonor also. Make your rule the true mean.

I have observed that you are in need of advice.
Leave bad manners to their own quarrel.
Do not ask too many questions.
Do not disdain thoughtful answers that go straight to the question of one who is sounding you out with words. You can hear and see, taste and smell: these should bring you wisdom.

Let mercy go along with daring. There will be the test of my counsels. Once a man gives you his oath of surrender in battle, take his word of honor and let him live, unless he has done you such wrong as would burden your heart with grief.

You will frequently have to wear armor. As soon as it is removed, see that you wash your hands and around your eyes to get the iron rust off. That way you will be of love's color, and women's eyes will note that.

Be manly and cheerful of spirit: that is good for winning honor and praise.

Let women be dear to you, for that enhances a young man's worth. Do not waver a single day toward them: that is true manly conduct. If you choose to tell them lies you may deceive many of them, but in true love base deception does not enjoy honor
long. It is the prowler's complaint that the dry branches in the park snap and crack and rouse the watch. Pathless places and felled-tree barriers, there is where many a battle thrives. Measure this against love. Noble love has judgment with which to outwit sly deceptive trickery. If you incur her disfavor you will be dishonored and suffer painful shame forever. Take this lesson to heart.

I will tell you more about womankind. Husband and wife are one, as are the sun that shone today and the thing called day itself; neither can be separated from the other; they blossom from a single seed. Strive to understand this."

[from Wolfram's Parzival]

"The souls of the gods adapt their bodies, which imitate intellect, to their own intellectual essence; the souls of the other divine classes direct their vehicles according to their allotment in the cosmos."

Iamblichus

"Since Plato knew that among men the Demiurge is the only divinity recognized, whereas the Primal Intellect, which is called ‘Being in itself’, is completely unknown to them, for this reason he spoke to them, as it were, as follows: ‘O mortals, that Intellect which you have in mind is not the first, but there is another Intellect prior to this one, who is more senior and more divine (πρεσβύτερος καὶ θειότερος)’."

- 𝑶𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒗𝒊, 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒙𝒗𝒊𝒊, 𝒃𝒚 𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒑𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒂

Aarvoll vs Uberboyo
Plato vs Nietzsche

This will be good:

https://t.iss.one/keith_woods/3816

It is a spring day, yet it feels like autumn again.
The sky is blue, but dim.
The ground all around me is still covered in dead leaves.
I sit still, half pondering all my woes and hopes, half thinking I ought to kneel in the leaves and pray, and I hope the soft wind will bring with it whispers of forgotten things.