The Seventeenth Figure

The Seventeenth Figure

'He who buildeth a house should guard it, that when the enemy cometh it may not be destroyed. Its destruction should also be guarded that it may not be rebuilt, and that the folly of both may not be laughed at. Thus what hath been broken up is again rebuilt. Such things are done by children of men who do not consider the end. They erect, ornament and decorate, forgetting that their work is subject to destruction and again to restoration. At present all is still fragile, moreover they do not build on a rock but upon the sand.'