Grooks by Piet Hein

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Hein_(Denmark)

Piet Hein is one of my favorite poets. His signature style were these short witty poems called Grooks, which were maybe a sentence or two long. I find them to contain quite a bit of wisdom and thought this forum would enjoy them too.

Problems

Problems worthy

of attack

prove their worth

by hitting back.

Mankind

Men, said the Devil,

are good to their brothers:

they don’t want to mend

their own ways, but each other's.

The Central Point (A philosophistry)

I am the Universe's Centre.

No subtle sceptics can confound me;

for how can other viewpoints enter,

when all the rest is all around me?

On Problems

Our choicest plans

have fallen through,

our airiest castles

tumbled over,

because of lines

we neatly drew

and later neatly

stumbled over.

The Road to Wisdom

The road to wisdom? -- Well, it's plain

and simple to express:

Err

and err

and err again

but less

and less

and less.

The Ultimate Wisdom

Philosophers

must ultimately find

their true perfection

in knowing all

the follies of mankind

- by introspection.

Lest Fools Should Fail

True wisdom knows

it must comprise

some nonsense

as a compromise,

lest fools should fail

to find it wise.

The Untenable Argument

My adversary's argument

is not alone malevolent

but ignorant to boot.

He hasn't even got the sense

to state his so-called evidence

in terms I can refute.

An Ode to Modesty

Talking of successful rackets

modesty deserves a mention.

Exclamation marks in brackets

never fail to draw attention.

Small Things and Great

He that lets

the small things bind him

leaves the great

undone behind him.

Abreast

He who aims

to keep abreast

is for ever

second best.

If you liked these there are many more available on this website: http://chat.carleton.ca/~tcstewar/grooks/grooks.html