Man is a thinking reed and a thinking bamboo, the strongest of the reeds: not to bamboozle, but to beat a drum. - M.N.

Gurdjieff, De Hartmann-Chant from a holy book-Solaris Quartet


Man is a thinking reed and a thinking bamboo, the strongest of the reeds: not to bamboozle, but to beat a drum. - M.N.

Pascal : Man is a thinking reed. ... This is an excerpt of Thoughts: “Man is a reed, the weakest of nature, but he is a thinking reed. It is not necessary that the entire universe arm itself to crush: a vapor, a drop of water suffices to kill him.

Pascal : Man is a thinking reed - Philosophy & Philosophers

www.the-philosophy.com/pascal-man-thinking-reed

The full quote sounds much better:

“Man is a reed, the weakest of nature, but he is a thinking reed. It is not necessary that the entire universe arm itself to crush: a vapor, a drop of water suffices to kill him. But if the universe were to crush him, man would still be nobler than what kills him, because he knows that he dies and the advantage that the universe has over him, the universe does knows nothing”

This is the most famous quote by Blaise Pascal, a French philosopher. This is an excerpt of "Thoughts".

In summary, it is the thought that makes man worthy. Two lessons can be drawn from Pascal:
“All our dignity consists then in thought”
“Working to think well: that the principle of morality”
This dual conception of the human condition will greatly influence the existentialists like Sartre, Kierkegaard and Heidegger.

Dust and the Thinking Reed: Conceptions of Human Nature from Blaise Pascal and the Bible 

"думающий тростник"

The Tin Drum 

bamboozle

[bam-boo-zuh l]
Spell Syllables
Examples
Word Origin
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object), bamboozled, bamboozling.
1.
to deceive or get the better of (someone) by trickery, flattery, or the like; humbug; hoodwink (often followed by into):
They bamboozled us into joining the club.
Synonyms: gyp, dupe, trick, cheat, swindle, defraud, flimflam, hoax, gull, rook; delude, mislead, fool.
2.
to perplex; mystify; confound.
Synonyms: befog, bewilder, puzzle, baffle, dumbfound.
verb (used without object), bamboozled, bamboozling.
3.
to practice trickery, deception, cozenage, or the like:
He bamboozled his way to the top.
Origin of bamboozle
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1695-1705
1695-1705; origin uncertain

You mention business dealings in connection with “bamboozle,” which the American Heritage Dictionary defines as “to take in by elaborate methods of deceit; hoodwink.” But it’s worth noting that this is a presidential election year here in the US, and a cynic (that’s me) would say that we’re knee-deep in bamboozlement already with more than two months to go. It’s enough to drive one to guzzling bambooze, if there is such a thing.
What makes dreaming up a nifty story about “bamboozle” so tempting is the unfortunate fact that the actual source of the word is shrouded in mystery. (I like “shrouded in mystery” much better than “unknown,” don’t you?)

The Tin Drum (1979) - Trailer [English Version]