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Miriam Lichtheim Quotes

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Famous Miriam Lichtheim Quotes

“One would say; “He is the herdsman of all; there is no evil in his heart. His herds are few, but he spends the day herding them. There is fire in their hearts! If only he had perceived their nature in the first generation! Then he would have smitten the evil, stretched out his arm against it, would have destroyed their seed and their heirs! But since giving birth is desired, grief has come and misery is everywhere. So it is and will not pass, while these gods are in their midst. Seed comes forth from mortal women ; it is not found on the road. Fighting has come, and the punisher of crimes commits them! There is no pilot in their hour. Where is he today? Is he asleep ? Lo, his power is not seen!”

HeartDesireEvilPowerBirthMiseryCommitFight
Book:Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
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“To whom shall I speak today ? Brothers are mean, The friends of today do not love. To whom shall I speak today? Hearts are greedy, Everyone robs his comrade's goods. To whom shall I speak today ? Kindness has perished, Insolence assaults everyone. To whom shall I speak today ? One is content with evil, Goodness is cast to the ground everywhere. To whom shall I speak today? He who should enrage men by his crimes — He makes everyone laugh at his evildoing. To whom shall I speak today ? Men plunder, Everyone robs his comrade. To whom shall I speak today ? The criminal is one’s intimate, The brother with whom one dealt is a foe. To whom shall I speak today ? The past is not remembered, Now one does not help him who helped. To whom shall I speak today ? Brothers are mean, One goes to strangers for affection. To whom shall I speak today? Faces are blank, Everyone turns his face from his brothers. To whom shall I speak today ? Hearts are greedy, No man’s heart can be relied on. To whom shall I speak today ? None are righteous, The land is left to evildoers. To whom shall I speak today ? One lacks an intimate, One resorts to an unknown to complain. To whom shall I speak today ? No one is cheerful, He with whom one walked is no more. To whom shall I speak today ? I am burdened with grief For lack of an intimate. To whom shall I speak today ? Wrong roams the earth, And ends not.”

LoveHeartEvilKindnessGreedyFoeInsolenceRobCriminal Righteous
Book:Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
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“THE INSTRUCTION OF PTAHHOTEP Part III Report your commission without faltering, Give your advice in your master’s council. If he is fluent in his speech, It will not be hard for the envoy to report, Nor will he be answered, "Who is he to know it ?” As to the master, his affairs will fail If he plans to punish him for it. He should be silent upon (hearing): "I have told.” If you are a man who leads. Whose authority reaches wide, You should do outstanding things, Remember the day that comes after. No strife will occur in the midst of honors, But where the crocodile enters hatred arises. If you are a man who leads. Listen calmly to the speech of one who pleads; Don’t stop him from purging his body Of that which he planned to tell. A man in distress wants to pour out his heart More than that his case be won. About him who stops a plea One says: “Why does he reject it ?” Not all one pleads for can be granted, But a good hearing soothes the heart. If you want friendship to endure In the house you enter As master, brother, or friend, In whatever place you enter, Beware of approaching the women! Unhappy is the place where it is done. Unwelcome is he who intrudes on them. A thousand men are turned away from their good: A short moment like a dream, Then death comes for having known them. Poor advice is “shoot the opponent,” When one goes to do it the heart rejects it. He who fails through lust of them, No affair of his can prosper. If you want a perfect conduct, To be free from every evil, Guard against the vice of greed: A grievous sickness without cure, There is no treatment for it. It embroils fathers, mothers, And the brothers of the mother, It parts wife from husband; It is a compound of all evils, A bundle of all hateful things. That man endures whose rule is rightness, Who walks a straight line; He will make a will by it, The greedy has no tomb. Do not be greedy in the division. Do not covet more than your share; Do not be greedy toward your kin. The mild has a greater claim than the harsh. Poor is he who shuns his kin, He is deprived of 'interchange' Even a little of what is craved Turns a quarreler into an amiable man. When you prosper and found your house, And love your wife with ardor, Fill her belly, clothe her back, Ointment soothes her body. Gladden her heart as long as you live, She is a fertile held for her lord. Do not contend with her in court, Keep her from power, restrain her — Her eye is her storm when she gazes — Thus will you make her stay in your house. Sustain your friends with what you have, You have it by the grace of god; Of him who fails to sustain his friends One says, “a selfish ka". One plans the morrow but knows not what will be, The ( right) ka is the ka by which one is sustained. If praiseworthy deeds are done, Friends will say, “welcome!” One does not bring supplies to town, One brings friends when there is need. Do not repeat calumny. Nor should you listen to it, It is the spouting of the hot-bellied. Report a thing observed, not heard, If it is negligible, don’t say anything. He who is before you recognizes worth. lf a seizure is ordered and carried out, Hatred will arise against him who seizes; Calumny is like a dream against which one covers the face. If you are a man of worth, Who sits in his master’s council. Concentrate on excellence, Your silence is better than chatter. Speak when you know you have a solution, It is the skilled who should speak in council; Speaking is harder than all other work. He who understands it makes it serve.”

HeartEvilWomenFriendshipAdviceListeningGreedyCalumny
Book:Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
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