Kit

“In youth I knew nothing of the taste of sorrow
I liked to climb high towers,
I liked to climb high towers,
To conjure up a bit of sorrow to make new verse.

Now I know only too well the taste of sorrow.
I begin to speak yet pause,
I begin to speak yet pause,
And say instead 'My, what a cool and lovely autumn.”
― Xin Qiji

“It was clear that unless he acted the way the officials wanted, they might not function the way he wanted. This was tantamount to saying that while the bureaucracy was created to carry out governmental functions, the most pressing problem it had to handle was none other than the bureaucracy itself.”
― Ray Huang, 1587: A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline

“There are certain errors that demand a greater outlay of intellect than the truth itself.”
― Heinrich von Kleist

“The empire was not set up to wage wars, to reconstruct its own society, to conduct a national program of any kind, nor even to improve the standard of living of the populace aside from taking preventative measures against famine. Its purpose was to maintain peace and stability.”
― Ray Huang, 1587: A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline