Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter 33

Knowing others is intelligence;knowing yourself is true wisdom.

Mastering others is strength;mastering yourself is true power.

If you realize that you have enough,you are truly rich.

If you stay in the centerand embrace death with your whole heart,you will endure forever.

Knowing others is intelligence. A person with the kind of intelligence we are considering here is very cognitive of her (or his) surroundings. This person isn't too introverted that she doesn't posses proper insight into the motives. needs, skills, and desires or those around her, those she works with and those with which she lives and interacts. She lets her understanding of a person guide her interactions with them but not so rigidly so that she doesn't leave them any space to teach her more about themselves so that her view of and relationship with them is well rounded and progressive. Knowing others is a potent skill that the business savy person possesses. Take for example a music producer who's job it is to hand pick talented individuals to promote and produce to the world in hopes that their music is well received and highly profitable. The producer would be wise to study and gain massive knowledge of others so he can make an informed decision. A producer with this skill would be able to take an artist's new track list and after a listen pick out that one song pre-released as a "single" which effectivelt wets the appetite of the fans, thus boosting sales of the actual record.

Knowing yourself is true wisdom. This too is a lost art. How you view yourself is key to how you treat the world around you. If you understand your own strong points and follies you will know how to reign them in. You will know how to control your own strengths and protect your weaknesses. In this way your behavior will be greatly shaped. Because you know how to understand yourself you can see how what you think and do effects the world around you. Thus if you take yourself seriously you will apply all the wisdom grace has afforded you to all interpersonal and personal situations. In other words you will be on your way to becoming wise indeed, not just in your own head or social circle.

Mastering others is strength. Mastering your awarness of what makes people, people, what makes a person unique, and what makes a certian group of people behave a certian way is strength indeed and very useful potential power. Think about how various individuals who have risen to power over masses. These individuals understood what made the people tick, what their needs where, what they desired and what the blind spots where. Need I say more? I could say this: Be careful of who knows you the best; be careful who you let know the inner workings of your soul.


Mastering yourself is true power. Indeed! ones nearly infinite potential is power beyond comprehension for the few with the gall and tenacity to master it.

If you realize that you have enough,you are truly rich. So true, but few realize this profound truth. Contentment isn't THAT hard to attain. Rather it's secret lies in your perspective. First SLOOOOOW down. Then become more cognitive of those around you, realizing just how well you do have it. Then understand yourself and what makes you happy. Thus you will begin to see how wealthy you are in the terms that really matter.

If you stay in the centerand embrace death with your whole heart,you will endure forever. What can I say here? Hmmm. The key to this pasage lies in the acknowledgement of one's own fleeting mortality and the letting go of one's futile resistance to the matter. With your whole heart stay centered on what really counts in life, letting go of regrets and your powerless wishes to live forever. If you pass through life peacefully cognitive of your own mortality you will have succesfully freed yourself to reach out for what really matters in life thus leaving your mark on the world that will far outlive your body. Take one of my most frequently used phrases: "Life's too short to put off...."