Water-Simple

1. The moment a person begins to doubt their own vital force, that is when despair and disillusionment take root.

2. What once settles in the mind cannot be forgotten—if you cannot accept this, married life will never know happiness.

3. To one who wishes to see you intoxicated, all your certificates of character are worthless.

4. Any woman can bear a child, but becoming a mother—that is the true test. Some give birth yet never become mothers, while others become mothers without ever giving birth.

5. If your beloved shares a deep bond with another, and you cannot accept this, then you have only two paths: either leave them behind, or consent to sorrow for the rest of your life.

6. Hang a sign outside your house gate: Beware of dogs!
Hang a sign outside your heart's gate: Beware of zealotry!

7. The easiest way to lose a friend is to lay bare, right before their eyes, every evidence of their moral corruption.

8. In comparing the person you live with to the person you desire in your heart, people drown themselves in melancholy.

9. Those who thrust their wisdom upon you uninvited are not sages—they are meddlers.

10. It is hard to accept the loss of one who has passed from sight; yet far harder—infinitely harder—is accepting the loss of one who remains before your eyes.

11. Thank heaven you are a person of such fine nature, spoiled though you are! Otherwise I would never have had the chance to feel you in such beautiful disarray.

12. The will to be well is more essential than anything. Money—someone can give you that. But the will itself? No one can give you that.

13. Bring a bottle of whisky or a girlfriend to a party, and your worth rises. A party is no prayer gathering where the sight of scripture in your hands sends everyone into raptures. If there is any affront to religion here, the blame lies wholly with your want of judgment. Pretense does not work everywhere.

14. You promised you would write to me one day. How strange! That single promise of yours has drawn so many letters from me—yet the promised letter itself has never arrived!

15. Can you honor me as you once did, forgetting what happened that night? Please, come—let us two share the burden of that night's error together, and remain friends.

16. Come, let us end this unbearable bond today, the two of us. Come, let us hold each other close and weep for a long time.

17. The one I never possessed—my bond with them still gleams and burns in a few strong poems. The one I did possess—my bond with them now stands as a few feeble poems, blocking the way.

18. The one whose presence is stronger than your sorrow—that is the right person for you.

19. The heart dies from disuse. Do not seek the beauty of life from one whose existence holds nothing beyond household and livelihood.

20. Even now I am ready to give you the seat of honor before all else.