#Tradition

Antiquity as a Guide for Today’s Way

The quote’s pivot—mastering “what exists today” by anchoring in the past—implies that the present is best understood as an unfolding, not an isolated moment. When we chase only current events, we often confuse surface change for fundamental change. By contrast, when we ask how today’s structures began, we gain leverage over them: we can see which parts are essential and which are mere habit. This is why origin-stories matter in practice. A leader trying to fix a broken workplace culture, for instance, frequently gets further by learning how its norms were first rewarded than by issuing new slogans. Laozi’s method is diagnostic: trace the stream upstream to understand the water you are standing in. [...]

Patience, Heritage, and the Quiet Work of Progress

Extending this logic, Achebe cast writing itself as steady civic labor. In “The Novelist as Teacher” (1965), he argues that fiction can clarify values and history, not by sermon but by sustained craft. His essay “An Image of Africa” (1977) exemplifies persistence as critique, patiently dismantling inherited distortions about the continent. Collected in Hopes and Impediments (1988), these works model how repeated, calibrated acts of storytelling can reconstruct a shared imagination—so that tomorrow has truthful foundations. [...]

Without Tradition, Art Is a Flock of Sheep Without a Shepherd – Winston Churchill

Without tradition, art may lack structure, direction, and a sense of purpose, much like sheep without a shepherd lose their way. [...]

The World Is Not Yet Tired of the Old, Only the Old Ways — Arne Naess

This quote by Arne Naess suggests that humanity still finds value in old ideas, cultures, and traditions. What people reject is not the essence of the past, but the outdated methods and systems associated with it. [...]

The New Is Only a Reflection of the Old - Kahlil Gibran

As a poet and philosopher, Kahlil Gibran frequently explored themes of spirituality, interconnectedness, and the timeless nature of human experiences in his works. This quote is consistent with his contemplative style and philosophical outlook. [...]