Post by Admin on May 28, 2016 21:59:46 GMT
* THE GOREAN WARRIOR CODES *
* THE ONE AFFIRMATION OF THE GOREAN WARRIOR CODES *
"I am the terror of My enemies."
* THE FIVE MAXIMS OF THE GOREAN WARRIOR CODES *
-First Maxim-
When honor is due, let honor be done.
-Second Maxim-
Honor the Home Stone which is yours to honor.
-Third Maxim-
Know those who are free, and honor their freedom.
-Fourth Maxim-
Deeds, not words, shall you be measured by.
-Fifth Maxim-
No man is alone who is the friend of steel.
* THE 100 APHORISMS OF THE GOREAN WARRIOR CODES *
(Though the wording of these aphorisms varies slightly from city to city, their content is, for the most part, identical in all the caste scrolls of the Warrior
Caste throughout Gorean culture)
-1st Aphorism of the Codes-
A dull blade does not cut. A weak spear does not pierce. A rent shield does not defend. A soft heart does not conquer. A slow mind does not win.
-2nd Aphorism of the Codes-
If a weapon is too large for your use, yet use it you must, it is well to utilize both hands to wield it. So it is with all things. -
3rd Aphorism of the Codes-
The softest of things in the world penetrates swiftly the hardest. Insubstantial, it enters in where no room is, and conquers.
-4th Aphorism of the Codes-
In matters of stealth, let you be as soft as the wind, as silent as the shadows,and as still as the calm before the storm.
-5th Aphorism of the Codes-
When you would hunt, hunt as the sleen hunts. Tenacious, silent, and without mercy.
-6th Aphorism of the Codes-
A careless mind betrays, and the body whispers its secrets. In combat, see into your opponent's mind thus and you will conquer. -
7th Aphorism of the Codes-
To act without resistance; to move without hesitation; to strive without effort; to fight without the interference of unwieldy thought: that is the goal of
all goals, the inner victory which brings outer triumph.
-8th Aphorism of the Codes-
At the instant your foe decides to strike, strike. At the instant he decides to retreat, advance. There is no more powerful ally than the interrupted thoughts of your opponent, which tangle his wit and open the gate to Victory.
-9th Aphorism of the Codes-
Q: What is a Warrior's greatest enemy? A: That foe which slips in undetected, poisoning him: an undecided mind.
10th Aphorism of the Codes-
It is perilous to detain a Warrior enroute to his City.
-11th Aphorism of the Codes-
Within the circle of his own steel, every man is Ubar.
-12th Aphorism of the Codes-
Learn to strike from the position of no position. Learn to fight in the stance of no stance. Learn to make war in the formation of no formation. In this way, you are always prepared to do what must be done.
-13th Aphorism of the Codes-
Who can make war who is not free? Who has worth who would not keep His freedom?
-14th Aphorism of the Codes-
A Warrior accepts his fate readily, nor does he seek to live beyond his freedom and usefulness. He will not suffer the chains of degradation, lest he bring dishonor to his city and Home Stone. Should he do so, let his name be forgotten by those of his caste.
-15th Aphorism of the Codes-
There are no pleasant endings to things, even in victory and triumph; for nothing ever ends, as long as Tor-tu-Gor burns.
-16th Aphorism of the Codes-
Do not fix your concentration upon a single object, action or goal. Be as expansive as the wind, as flexible as the reed, as fluid as Thassa. To be otherwise is to limit oneself to dire predictability.
-17th Aphorism of the Codes-
There is a time for Ubars, and there is a time when Ubars must also bow. Let no Ubar stand longer than his city has need of him.
-18th Aphorism of the Codes-
Only a clean weapon can kill cleanly. Only a calm mind can act swiftly.
-19th Aphorism of the Codes-
A Ubar displayed his city's Home Stone to a peasant, who in return displayed the Home Stone of his hut. Which was more beautiful?
-20th Aphorism of the Codes-
No Warrior can be of the Warriors who lives not the Codes of his caste.
-21st Aphorism of the Codes-
To touch a Warrior without his permission is canjellne. To draw a weapon against a Warrior is canjellne. To misuse the property of a Warrior without recompense is canjellne. Canjellne is the Rite of Challenge. Woe be it to any who so challenges a Warrior!
-22nd Aphorism of the Codes-
A Warrior meets the challenges of those who do not share his caste in the manner he sees fit. Such a challenge may be so met in any fashion, provided it is not ignored.
-23rd Aphorism of the Codes-
A Warrior may respond to the rightful challenge of another Warrior in one of two ways: He may yield all, or he may answer with steel. Woe be it to any who yields all! A collar of iron awaits him one day.
-24th Aphorism of the Codes-
Q: What are the Codes of a Warrior? A: They are golden threads which bind him to the honor of his Home Stone.
-25th Aphorism of the Codes-
When one strikes at his enemy, let him shout out the warcry of his city, that all may know and fear the Home Stone for which he fights. In all such conflicts let him focus his thoughts in such a way, even if he cries out only in his heart.
-26th Aphorism of the Codes-
If a Warrior draws the life blood of an enemy Warrior, and that blood is foul with cowardice, let him grind it into the dust! Any foe who has shed his blood upon your steel and yet lives, but whose blood nobly brightens your blade without sullying it, is your brother...Let a sword-bond exist between you henceforth.
-27th Aphorism of the Codes-
A sword-brother is no less a brother than the other sons of your father.
-28th Aphorism of the Codes-
If a sword-brother betrays, let steel avenge.
-29th Aphorism of the Codes-
A fool is not brave; he is a fool. Pride is not honor. Let the true Warrior be wise enough to know the truth of this.
-30th Aphorism of the Codes-
Do not seek to fight with another man's sword. Do not seek to ride another's tarn. Do not seek to discuss another's faults. Do not seek to interfere in another's purpose.
-31st Aphorism of the Codes-
A skilled soldier is not quick to violence; an able fighter does not rage; a mighty conqueror does not give battle; the greatest Ubar is a humble man. The Warrior is all of these things...armed with a healthy mind and a humble spirit, he sees things as they are, and conquers all.
-32nd Aphorism of the Codes-
Q: The sword, the spear, the scimitar, the quiva, the lance? Which is best? A: None are deadly in the hands of he who does not know them. All are lethal in the hands of an expert. Therefore, all are the same. So it is with all things.
-33rd Aphorism of the Codes-
What is gold, when compared to the honor of your city and caste? A Warrior does not allow the baubles of wealth to glitter so brightly that they obscure the truth.
-34th Aphorism of the Codes-
In battle, it is sometimes wise to allow your enemy access to a bridge, which can be easily gained, and which seems to offer both profit and succor. No enemy will press easily forward when such a bridge can be crossed to rearward. Let any such bridge be clothed in glittering jewels, that it may not be easily ignored. Be warned! The wise man does not cross such a bridge swiftly or unwarily.
-35th Aphorism of the Codes-
The gentlest of streams can halt an army. The tiniest of osts can fell a man. In the humblest of things there is worth, and the simplest of things may conquer.
-36th Aphorism of the Codes-
If a free woman should kneel before you in submission, let you claim her life. This done, let you keep her as slave, or slay her that she not live in shame evermore.
-37th Aphorism of the Codes-
Let the Free Companion of the Warrior who has dishonored himself be locked in a collar of slavery by he who has conquered, that all may see and know that the honor of the fallen is as naught. The Companion of the dishonored is the property of his destroyer, and may be used as he sees fit.
-38th Aphorism of the Codes-
Who shall cage the larl? Who shall halt the Bosk? Who shall elude the sleen? When you would be caged, be as the larl. When you would be halted, be as the Bosk. When you would be eluded, be as the sleen.
-39th Aphorism of the Codes-
The sword which can be bought is not worth owning.
-40th Aphorism of the Codes-
Each Warrior is a weapon unto himself. Those who would praise a weapon for the beauty of its hilt and pommel are seldom wise enough to appreciate the value of a well-tempered blade.
-41st Aphorism of the Codes-
It is wisdom to know others; it is Mastery to know oneself. The Master of men is powerful; the Master of himself is greater. Endurance is to live long and die; Mastery is to die and not perish.
-42nd Aphorism of the Codes-
Those who know, speak not! Those who speak, know not.
-43rd Aphorism of the Codes-
Watch. Observe. See. Know. Understand. Act.
-44th Aphorism of the Codes-
Victory is a state of being, which begins as a state of mind. The one cannot help but follow the other.
-45th Aphorism of the Codes-
Alive, a warrior is supple and flexible. In death, he becomes unbending and stiff. So too do all things which live. To become inflexible is to die.
-46th Aphorism of the Codes-
A Warrior is not a Warrior who does not honor his fellow Warriors. Let all those who are of the scarlet caste do honor to one another. In honoring your fellow, you honor yourself.
-47th Aphorism of the Codes-
When you challenge a Warrior, you challenge his steel. Give him his steel or do not challenge him.
-48th Aphorism of the Codes-
The concerns of Warriors are not for the ears of slaves.
-49th Aphorism of the Codes-
His hands move, his lips speak, his eyes blaze! Look upon him! He is an island of strength...he is Master of his own destiny.
-50th Aphorism of the Codes-
A Warrior is not quick to anger...nor does he take advantage of those who are not fortunate enough to be of his caste.
-51st Aphorism of the Codes-
Let a Warrior cast his spear mightily, that it might fly far from him, and let him witness how far away from him it lands. Mark that distance well...for within it lies all that he may truly control, while beyond it lies the Dominion of others.
-52nd Aphorism of the Codes-
The poisoner sniffs his own cup often. The assassin fears a knife lurking behind every tree. The loudest accuser sleeps in fear lest his own crime be discovered.
-53rd Aphorism of the Codes-
Behind every great fortune can be found a crime against someone.
-54th Aphorism of the Codes-
The larl does not drink from the same pool as the urt.
-55th Aphorism of the Codes-
Thirty spokes will converge at the hub of a wheel... but the use of the cart depends upon the empty spaces between the spokes. A clay bowl is bounded by a wall all around... but the use of the bowl will depend upon the empty space within. Build a cylinder to the sky...walls 1000 feet high! But the use of the structure will depend upon the empty space within! So advantage is to be had from the solidity of things... but their usefulness must depend upon the spaces within, and what things they contain.
-56th Aphorism of the Codes-
Sleep as the sleen sleeps...one eye open, claws extended.
-57th Aphorism of the Codes-
A silent enemy is to be feared.
-58th Aphorism of the Codes-
A Warrior and an Initiate approached a stream, where they saw a lowly peasant child, who had been gathering tarsk dung for his family's cookfire. The child could not cross the stream, as rain had swollen it. Without a word the Warrior lifted the child and carried him across the stream, then set him down and continued upon his way. After the two travellers had walked for half an ahn, and gone over a pasang, the Initiate spoke: "How could you, a noble Warrior, carry a filthy unwashed peasant in your arms? He stank of dung." To which the Warrior replied: "Are you still carrying that peasant child? I myself set him down beside the stream, over half an ahn ago."
-59th Aphorism of the Codes-
Only a fool seeks fire and looks for it with a lighted torch.
* THE ONE AFFIRMATION OF THE GOREAN WARRIOR CODES *
"I am the terror of My enemies."
* THE FIVE MAXIMS OF THE GOREAN WARRIOR CODES *
-First Maxim-
When honor is due, let honor be done.
-Second Maxim-
Honor the Home Stone which is yours to honor.
-Third Maxim-
Know those who are free, and honor their freedom.
-Fourth Maxim-
Deeds, not words, shall you be measured by.
-Fifth Maxim-
No man is alone who is the friend of steel.
* THE 100 APHORISMS OF THE GOREAN WARRIOR CODES *
(Though the wording of these aphorisms varies slightly from city to city, their content is, for the most part, identical in all the caste scrolls of the Warrior
Caste throughout Gorean culture)
-1st Aphorism of the Codes-
A dull blade does not cut. A weak spear does not pierce. A rent shield does not defend. A soft heart does not conquer. A slow mind does not win.
-2nd Aphorism of the Codes-
If a weapon is too large for your use, yet use it you must, it is well to utilize both hands to wield it. So it is with all things. -
3rd Aphorism of the Codes-
The softest of things in the world penetrates swiftly the hardest. Insubstantial, it enters in where no room is, and conquers.
-4th Aphorism of the Codes-
In matters of stealth, let you be as soft as the wind, as silent as the shadows,and as still as the calm before the storm.
-5th Aphorism of the Codes-
When you would hunt, hunt as the sleen hunts. Tenacious, silent, and without mercy.
-6th Aphorism of the Codes-
A careless mind betrays, and the body whispers its secrets. In combat, see into your opponent's mind thus and you will conquer. -
7th Aphorism of the Codes-
To act without resistance; to move without hesitation; to strive without effort; to fight without the interference of unwieldy thought: that is the goal of
all goals, the inner victory which brings outer triumph.
-8th Aphorism of the Codes-
At the instant your foe decides to strike, strike. At the instant he decides to retreat, advance. There is no more powerful ally than the interrupted thoughts of your opponent, which tangle his wit and open the gate to Victory.
-9th Aphorism of the Codes-
Q: What is a Warrior's greatest enemy? A: That foe which slips in undetected, poisoning him: an undecided mind.
10th Aphorism of the Codes-
It is perilous to detain a Warrior enroute to his City.
-11th Aphorism of the Codes-
Within the circle of his own steel, every man is Ubar.
-12th Aphorism of the Codes-
Learn to strike from the position of no position. Learn to fight in the stance of no stance. Learn to make war in the formation of no formation. In this way, you are always prepared to do what must be done.
-13th Aphorism of the Codes-
Who can make war who is not free? Who has worth who would not keep His freedom?
-14th Aphorism of the Codes-
A Warrior accepts his fate readily, nor does he seek to live beyond his freedom and usefulness. He will not suffer the chains of degradation, lest he bring dishonor to his city and Home Stone. Should he do so, let his name be forgotten by those of his caste.
-15th Aphorism of the Codes-
There are no pleasant endings to things, even in victory and triumph; for nothing ever ends, as long as Tor-tu-Gor burns.
-16th Aphorism of the Codes-
Do not fix your concentration upon a single object, action or goal. Be as expansive as the wind, as flexible as the reed, as fluid as Thassa. To be otherwise is to limit oneself to dire predictability.
-17th Aphorism of the Codes-
There is a time for Ubars, and there is a time when Ubars must also bow. Let no Ubar stand longer than his city has need of him.
-18th Aphorism of the Codes-
Only a clean weapon can kill cleanly. Only a calm mind can act swiftly.
-19th Aphorism of the Codes-
A Ubar displayed his city's Home Stone to a peasant, who in return displayed the Home Stone of his hut. Which was more beautiful?
-20th Aphorism of the Codes-
No Warrior can be of the Warriors who lives not the Codes of his caste.
-21st Aphorism of the Codes-
To touch a Warrior without his permission is canjellne. To draw a weapon against a Warrior is canjellne. To misuse the property of a Warrior without recompense is canjellne. Canjellne is the Rite of Challenge. Woe be it to any who so challenges a Warrior!
-22nd Aphorism of the Codes-
A Warrior meets the challenges of those who do not share his caste in the manner he sees fit. Such a challenge may be so met in any fashion, provided it is not ignored.
-23rd Aphorism of the Codes-
A Warrior may respond to the rightful challenge of another Warrior in one of two ways: He may yield all, or he may answer with steel. Woe be it to any who yields all! A collar of iron awaits him one day.
-24th Aphorism of the Codes-
Q: What are the Codes of a Warrior? A: They are golden threads which bind him to the honor of his Home Stone.
-25th Aphorism of the Codes-
When one strikes at his enemy, let him shout out the warcry of his city, that all may know and fear the Home Stone for which he fights. In all such conflicts let him focus his thoughts in such a way, even if he cries out only in his heart.
-26th Aphorism of the Codes-
If a Warrior draws the life blood of an enemy Warrior, and that blood is foul with cowardice, let him grind it into the dust! Any foe who has shed his blood upon your steel and yet lives, but whose blood nobly brightens your blade without sullying it, is your brother...Let a sword-bond exist between you henceforth.
-27th Aphorism of the Codes-
A sword-brother is no less a brother than the other sons of your father.
-28th Aphorism of the Codes-
If a sword-brother betrays, let steel avenge.
-29th Aphorism of the Codes-
A fool is not brave; he is a fool. Pride is not honor. Let the true Warrior be wise enough to know the truth of this.
-30th Aphorism of the Codes-
Do not seek to fight with another man's sword. Do not seek to ride another's tarn. Do not seek to discuss another's faults. Do not seek to interfere in another's purpose.
-31st Aphorism of the Codes-
A skilled soldier is not quick to violence; an able fighter does not rage; a mighty conqueror does not give battle; the greatest Ubar is a humble man. The Warrior is all of these things...armed with a healthy mind and a humble spirit, he sees things as they are, and conquers all.
-32nd Aphorism of the Codes-
Q: The sword, the spear, the scimitar, the quiva, the lance? Which is best? A: None are deadly in the hands of he who does not know them. All are lethal in the hands of an expert. Therefore, all are the same. So it is with all things.
-33rd Aphorism of the Codes-
What is gold, when compared to the honor of your city and caste? A Warrior does not allow the baubles of wealth to glitter so brightly that they obscure the truth.
-34th Aphorism of the Codes-
In battle, it is sometimes wise to allow your enemy access to a bridge, which can be easily gained, and which seems to offer both profit and succor. No enemy will press easily forward when such a bridge can be crossed to rearward. Let any such bridge be clothed in glittering jewels, that it may not be easily ignored. Be warned! The wise man does not cross such a bridge swiftly or unwarily.
-35th Aphorism of the Codes-
The gentlest of streams can halt an army. The tiniest of osts can fell a man. In the humblest of things there is worth, and the simplest of things may conquer.
-36th Aphorism of the Codes-
If a free woman should kneel before you in submission, let you claim her life. This done, let you keep her as slave, or slay her that she not live in shame evermore.
-37th Aphorism of the Codes-
Let the Free Companion of the Warrior who has dishonored himself be locked in a collar of slavery by he who has conquered, that all may see and know that the honor of the fallen is as naught. The Companion of the dishonored is the property of his destroyer, and may be used as he sees fit.
-38th Aphorism of the Codes-
Who shall cage the larl? Who shall halt the Bosk? Who shall elude the sleen? When you would be caged, be as the larl. When you would be halted, be as the Bosk. When you would be eluded, be as the sleen.
-39th Aphorism of the Codes-
The sword which can be bought is not worth owning.
-40th Aphorism of the Codes-
Each Warrior is a weapon unto himself. Those who would praise a weapon for the beauty of its hilt and pommel are seldom wise enough to appreciate the value of a well-tempered blade.
-41st Aphorism of the Codes-
It is wisdom to know others; it is Mastery to know oneself. The Master of men is powerful; the Master of himself is greater. Endurance is to live long and die; Mastery is to die and not perish.
-42nd Aphorism of the Codes-
Those who know, speak not! Those who speak, know not.
-43rd Aphorism of the Codes-
Watch. Observe. See. Know. Understand. Act.
-44th Aphorism of the Codes-
Victory is a state of being, which begins as a state of mind. The one cannot help but follow the other.
-45th Aphorism of the Codes-
Alive, a warrior is supple and flexible. In death, he becomes unbending and stiff. So too do all things which live. To become inflexible is to die.
-46th Aphorism of the Codes-
A Warrior is not a Warrior who does not honor his fellow Warriors. Let all those who are of the scarlet caste do honor to one another. In honoring your fellow, you honor yourself.
-47th Aphorism of the Codes-
When you challenge a Warrior, you challenge his steel. Give him his steel or do not challenge him.
-48th Aphorism of the Codes-
The concerns of Warriors are not for the ears of slaves.
-49th Aphorism of the Codes-
His hands move, his lips speak, his eyes blaze! Look upon him! He is an island of strength...he is Master of his own destiny.
-50th Aphorism of the Codes-
A Warrior is not quick to anger...nor does he take advantage of those who are not fortunate enough to be of his caste.
-51st Aphorism of the Codes-
Let a Warrior cast his spear mightily, that it might fly far from him, and let him witness how far away from him it lands. Mark that distance well...for within it lies all that he may truly control, while beyond it lies the Dominion of others.
-52nd Aphorism of the Codes-
The poisoner sniffs his own cup often. The assassin fears a knife lurking behind every tree. The loudest accuser sleeps in fear lest his own crime be discovered.
-53rd Aphorism of the Codes-
Behind every great fortune can be found a crime against someone.
-54th Aphorism of the Codes-
The larl does not drink from the same pool as the urt.
-55th Aphorism of the Codes-
Thirty spokes will converge at the hub of a wheel... but the use of the cart depends upon the empty spaces between the spokes. A clay bowl is bounded by a wall all around... but the use of the bowl will depend upon the empty space within. Build a cylinder to the sky...walls 1000 feet high! But the use of the structure will depend upon the empty space within! So advantage is to be had from the solidity of things... but their usefulness must depend upon the spaces within, and what things they contain.
-56th Aphorism of the Codes-
Sleep as the sleen sleeps...one eye open, claws extended.
-57th Aphorism of the Codes-
A silent enemy is to be feared.
-58th Aphorism of the Codes-
A Warrior and an Initiate approached a stream, where they saw a lowly peasant child, who had been gathering tarsk dung for his family's cookfire. The child could not cross the stream, as rain had swollen it. Without a word the Warrior lifted the child and carried him across the stream, then set him down and continued upon his way. After the two travellers had walked for half an ahn, and gone over a pasang, the Initiate spoke: "How could you, a noble Warrior, carry a filthy unwashed peasant in your arms? He stank of dung." To which the Warrior replied: "Are you still carrying that peasant child? I myself set him down beside the stream, over half an ahn ago."
-59th Aphorism of the Codes-
Only a fool seeks fire and looks for it with a lighted torch.