From What-is all the world of things was born But What-is sprang in turn from What-is-not.
Interpretation
This quote explores the relationship between existence and non-existence, emphasizing that everything that exists arises from the absence of what does not exist.
Laozi's quote illustrates a fundamental philosophical concept where the material world is a result of both what exists and what does not exist. It suggests that the essence of reality is intertwined with the void of possibilities, highlighting how creation stems from the interplay between being and non-being. This idea resonates with the notion that understanding existence involves acknowledging what is absent and the potential for everything that has not yet come to be.
In practice
In a philosophical discussion about the nature of reality.
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.
A city with one newspaper... is like a man with one eye, and often the eye is glass.
The wild, cruel beast is not behind the bars of the cage. He is in front of it.
Every country has a founding mythology. For Americans, it starts with our first president's youthful encounter with a cherry tree and refusal to tell a lie. Mr. Trump would do well to find inspiration in that story, which goes to the heart of what makes America different - and our foreign policy effective - around the world.
If the greatest god is the stillness all the motions add up to, then we must ineluctably be included.
The soul is the effect and instrument of a political anatomy; the soul is the prison of the body
The monster does not need the hero. it is the hero who needs him for his very existence. When the hero confronts the monster, he has yet neither power nor knowledge, the monster is his secret father who will invest him with a power and knowledge that can belong to one man only, and that only the monster can give.
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