I am good to people who are good. I am also good to people who are not good. Because Virtue is goodness.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of maintaining virtue regardless of how others behave.
Laozi's quote reflects a profound understanding of moral integrity and virtue, suggesting that one's goodness should not be contingent upon the behavior of others. By extending kindness and goodness to everyone, including those who may not reciprocate, we uphold a higher standard of virtue that can inspire change and promote peace in our interactions.
In practice
In a discussion about ethics, I might say, 'As Laozi wisely stated, I am good to people who are good and those who are not.'
If you understand others you are smart._x000D_ If you understand yourself you are illuminated._x000D_ If you overcome others you are powerful._x000D_ If you overcome yourself you have strength._x000D_ If you know how to be satisfied you are rich._x000D_ If you can act with vigor, you have a will._x000D_ If you don't lose your objectives you can be long-lasting._x000D_ If you die without loss, you are eternal.
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.
In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.
Rule your mind with serenity rather than with force and manipulation.
I have the legacy of my father and his nocturnal automatic waking up. But I like those periods. I immediately have a different vision of humanity and my life.
Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment. Such attraction fades quickly - it cannot compete in the market of leisure pursuits, incorporating as it increasingly does various forms of religious titillation.
The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant: 'What good is it?
Your Majesty would have a perfect right to strike off his head," said Peridan. "Such an assault as he made puts him on a level with assassins." "It is very true," said Edmund. "But even a traitor may mend. I have known one that did." And he looked very thoughtful.
Like apes, we breed, sleep, and die. Yet like God we say, "I am." We are ontological oxymorons.
My case is a species of madness, only that it is a derangement of the Volition, and not of the intellectual faculties.
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