If a great country yields to a small country, it will conquer the small country. If a small country yields to a great country, it will be conquered by the great country.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the dynamics of power and submission between countries, suggesting that yielding leads to domination.
Laozi's quote reflects on the intricate relationships between powerful and weaker nations. It conveys the idea that when a strong country shows leniency or compromise with a weaker nation, it risks losing its own power. Conversely, if a weaker nation submits to a stronger one, it signifies a surrender that ultimately leads to its own subjugation. This philosophy suggests that the act of yielding is critical in determining the balance of power in international relations.
In practice
During a discussion on international relations, one might use this quote to illustrate the consequences of compromise between nations.
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 think I'm learning how to release every day. Recognizing that everything you encounter, touch, or love can become part of you, and in essence never disappears, as long as you can recall it to memory or heart. It's all so connected that we lose everything, but also, we never lose anything.
At first Babel longed for the use of just two words: Yes and No. But he knew that just to utter a single word would be to destroy the delicate fluency of silence.
I’ve always liked the feeling of traveling light; there is something in me that wants to feel I could leave wherever I am, at any time, without any effort. The idea of being weighed down made me uneasy, as if I lived on the surface of a frozen lake and each new trapping of domestic life - a pot, a chair, a lamp - threatened to be the thing that sent me through the ice.
There is no perfection only life
Tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict. They desire to fit in both at church and outside of church; they care more about what people think of their actions (like church attendance and giving) than what God thinks of their hearts and lives.
Modern Darwinism makes it abundantly clear that many less ruthless traits, some not always admired by robber barons and Fuhrers - altruism, general intelligence, compassion - may be the key to survival.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.