Vita Contemplativa

be steady while the world spins around you. To act without frenzy. To hear only what needs to be heard. To possess quietude—exterior and interior—on command. To tap into the dao and the logos.

Thus, tell someone that you possess and are willing to share with him an ancient strategy for attaining virtue, and you will likely be met with a yawn. Tell him that you possess and are willing to share an ancient strategy for attaining tranquility, though, and his ears are likely to perk up; in most cases, people don’t need to be convinced of the

Mais il faudrait leur apprendre que si la contemplation est aux yeux de la société le crime le plus grave imputable à un citoyen, elle est, dans l’opinion des hommes cultivés, la seule occupation qui lui convienne. [...] Laissez-moi ajouter que ce qui est bien plus difficile encore, et ce qu’il y a de plus difficile au monde, et de plus intellectue

inner vigilance is necessary but insufficient for contemplation.