A government can be compared to our lungs. Our lungs are best when we don't realize they are helping us breathe. It is when we are constantly aware of our lungs that we know they have come down with an illness.
Interpretation
Good governance is often unnoticed, just like our lungs; problems arise only when it becomes problematic.
In this quote, Laozi draws a comparison between government and lungs to emphasize the idea that the best governance is often invisible and functions smoothly without drawing attention to itself. Just as we take our lungs for granted while they support our breathing, a well-functioning government operates quietly in the background, serving its citizens effectively. However, when issues arise, just like when we become overly aware of our lungs due to illness, it signals failures in the system that require our attention.
In practice
In a speech about effective governance, one could say, 'As Laozi reminds us, a government is like our lungs - best when we are not even aware of its presence.'
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.
Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil.
It is goodness that gives to a neighborhood its beauty. One who is free to choose, yet does not prefer to dwell among the good - how can he be accorded the name of wise?
If a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.
The world doesn't understand me and I don't understand the world, that's why I've withdrawn from it.
The fact that the most powerful and significant connections in our lives are (at the time) invisible to us seems to me a compelling argument for religious reverence rather than skeptical empiricism as a response to life's meaning.
Resentment seems to have been given us by nature for a defense, and for a defense only! It is the safeguard of justice and the security of innocence.
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