#vigilance

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.

By one day's defeat and giving way, virtue is either lost or preserved.

He walks about with caution, like sick men, fearful of disturbing anything newly formed, until it attains proper stability.

In one word, he keeps watch over himself as over an enemy and an intriguer.

They were watchful, like men crossing a winter stream; alert, like men aware of danger; courteous, like visiting guests.

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

Each lapse is like the letting fall of a ball of string which one is carefully winding up; a single slip undoes more than a great many turns will wind again.

Nothing can harm you as much as your own thoughts unguarded.

Guard your character with greater vigilance than your gold.

The best defense is an alert and disciplined mind.

Never celebrate a victory before the battle is completely won.

A drop of poison spoils a pot of milk; a single drop of arrogance spoils years of spiritual practice.

You wander the world looking for medicine, unaware that the cure is contained in your own quiet awareness.

The mountain does not shake in the wind; the established sage remains unmoved by praise or blame.

A sharp sword can cut the hardest armor, but soft water wears away the highest mountain; gentleness overcomes force.

A true warrior fights not with iron weapons against others, but with discriminative wisdom against his own illusions.

Speak well of the dead, but walk with vigilant care among the living.

Whatever can happen at any time can happen today.