The Way of the Warrior: An Ancient Path to Inner Peace

by Erwin Raphael McManus

You need skill to know how to shoot an arrow straight, but only wisdom can teach you how to never need to shoot it. Wisdom is not the result of having learned enough; it comes when you know there is never enough learning. Wisdom is less like a deep ocean and more like the force of a river. The power of the river is in its ability to adapt to its environment, change its course when necessary, and yet always find its way toward its destiny. The river reminds us that it is not always the straight path that leads us to where we must go. The meandering of a river might cause you to think that it has lost its intention, yet the river, as wide as it may bend and as often as it may change its course, always moves forward toward its intended destination. The warrior is like a river, with fluid and adaptive moves. The warrior is not rigid or unchanging. The warrior is not like a stone that cannot be broken but like water that even when cut in two cannot be divided. It is not a weapon that makes you a warrior—it is your wisdom.