Han Yu 韓愈

802

A pupil need not be inferior to his teacher, and a teacher need not be wiser than his pupil. Some hear the Way earlier and some later, and each has his own special study. That is all.

弟子不必不如師，師不必賢於弟子。聞道有先後，術業有專攻，如是而已。

"On Teachers"

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803 · At thirty-six

Last year I lost a molar. This year I lost a front tooth. All at once six or seven are gone, and the falling shows no sign of stopping.

去年落一牙，今年落一齒。 俄然落六七，落勢殊未已。

"Losing My Teeth," in the Complete Tang Poems

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803 · On news of the death of the nephew he grew up with. Here he recalls a letter he sent him the year before

I am not yet forty, and my sight is dim, my hair is grey, and my teeth are loose.

吾年未四十，而視茫茫，而髮蒼蒼，而齒牙動搖。

"Offering for My Nephew, the Twelfth"

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