Sima Qian

Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE)

"Merit is difficult to achieve and easy to lose. The right time is hard to find and easy to let slip."

• From a speech delivered in the character of Kuai Tong within the Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji, 92) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

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