People are hard to govern. The rulers interfere with too much. That is why people are hard to govern.
Interpretation
Governance is challenging because excessive interference leads to resistance from the governed.
This quote by Laozi highlights the inherent difficulty in governing people, suggesting that the more rulers intervene in the lives of their subjects, the more resistance they encounter. The essence of the quote lies in the idea that too much control can foster a sense of rebellion and a longing for autonomy among individuals, reflecting a philosophical view on governance and the nature of authority.
In practice
In a speech about the limits of government, one might say, 'As Laozi observed, people are hard to govern due to excessive interference.'
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.
Leibniz endeavored to provide an account of inference and judgment involving the mechanical play of symbols and very little else. The checklists that result are the first of humanity's intellectual artifacts. They express, they explain, and so they ratify a power of the mind. And, of course, they are artifacts in the process of becoming algorithms.
Any woman who has a great deal to offer the world is in trouble. And if she's a black woman, seh's in deep trouble.
The basic thesis of gestalt theory might be formulated thus: there are contexts in which what is happening in the whole cannot be deduced from the characteristics of the separate pieces, but conversely; what happens to a part of the whole is, in clearcut cases, determined by the laws of the inner structure of its whole.
Great truths are portions of the soul of man; Great souls are portions of eternity.
The seventh day of creation is the most eloquent and insightful as to the nature of God. From a literary perspective, the Sabbath forms the pinnacle of the story. Like the dramatic kiss of a soldier returning from war, this is the moment weβre not meant to miss. In choosing rest as the grand finale, God reveals himself as one driven by neither anxiety nor fear but one who finds gladness in both the work of creation and the creation of work.
There isn't any me. I'm you. Don't make up a separate me.
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