Bangkok 8

For Sofia

Like all the men of Babylon, I have been proconsul; like all, I have been a slave. I have known omnipotence, ignominy, imprisonment. Look here-my right hand has no index finger.

– Jorge Luis Borges, “The Lottery in Babylon ”

In the whole world there is no one who does not welcome it like reason.

– Confucius, talking about jade