Frithjof Schuon Archive

A samurai, a woman like a butterfly —Never were there on earth two things more different.So each of these two unique phenomena had to becomeA richly endowed part of the other.The husband like a freshly drawn sword;The wife — an ornament of flowers on the hearth.

Palaces, columns, statues, marble staircases —Spiritless sumptuosity that will collapse;Praise be for a simple peasant houseOr a nomadic Bedouin’s tent.The mystery is not that such vain splendor exists —The mystery is that there are people who like it.

One must speak of little things as well as of great ones;Certainly, one must think first and foremost of the great.Nevertheless: thou canst not change the nature of the world;From little things the world is made.

Two opposites: wisdom and woman —Wisdom is not mere brooding, nor woman mere diversion;There is no contradiction between the two — the goddess dwellsIn the Intellect, just as the Intellect is enthroned in woman.