Ibis

The truly great, don't think about being great,
They just live well.
The shallow want to be lauded as great,
And can't even be good.

The great souled just get on with the task,
And everything gets done.
The fool tries to look busy,
And leaves a mess for others to clean up.

Real kindness is thorough, without being picky.
The bean counters say they want fairness, but nothing is accomplished.
Those most concerned with rules, really just want to force others to obey.


When the Tao is lost, there is niceness and manners.
When strict etiquette is abandoned, kindness can exist.
When kindness is lost, there is nit-picking.
When justice is lost, the husk of the form pretends to be fair.
This is the terrible illusion, when we mistake the grin for the joy.

Knowing the way the wind will blow isn't magic, it's about sound observations.
Magical thinking leads away from truth.

Real greatness isn't fooled by the surfaces, but responds to the essence.
Attune yourself to the ring of truth, always prefer it to shiny illusions.

Ibis (i' bis). A sacred bird of the ancient Egyptians, specially connected with the god Thoth, who in the guise of an ibis escaped the pursuit of Typhon. Its white plumage symbolized the light of the sun, and its black neck the shadow the the moon, its body a heart, and its legs a triangle. It was said that it drank only the purest of water, and that the bird was so fond of Egypt that it would pine to death if transported elsewhere. The practical reason for the protection of the ibis - for it was a crime to kill it - was that it devoured crocodiles' eggs, serpents and all sorts of noxious reptiles and insects. Cp. ICHNEUMON.

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1963. p.477.