With the beginning of life, comes the thirst for truth, whereas the ability to lie is gradually acquired in the process of trying to stay alive.
Gao XingjianRead
If you're not perfectly conscious of yourself, that self can be tyrannical; in relationship to others, anyone can become a tyrant. That's why no one can be a Superman. You have to go beyond yourself with a 'third eye' - self-awareness - because the one thing you cannot flee is yourself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Self-awareness is crucial to avoid becoming tyrannical in relationships with others.
In this quote, Gao Xingjian emphasizes the importance of self-awareness in preventing our darker impulses from dominating our interactions with others. He warns that without a conscious understanding of ourselves, we risk becoming tyrants, affecting our relationships negatively, and suggests that true strength lies in transcending one's ego and cultivating a deeper insight into oneself, hence the notion of employing a 'third eye.'
Themes
Self-AwarenessTyrannyRelationshipsEgoWisdom
In practice
Example use cases
In a leadership workshop, this quote can be used to highlight the importance of self-awareness in effective leadership.
More from Gao Xingjian
All quotes →I was born Chinese, and I write in Chinese. I don't think there's any need to evade this... to a writer, as to a person, what matters is not his political label or his nationality, but whether he is a person and whether his work is worth looking at.
Gao XingjianRead
For me, writing [was] a question of survival...I could not trust anyone, even my family. The atmosphere was so poisoned. People even in your own family could turn you in.
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Young man, nature is not frightening, it's people who are frightening! You just need to get to know nature and it will become friendly. This creature known as man is of course highly intelligent, he's capable of manufacturing almost anything from rumours to test-tube babies and yet he destroys two to three species every day. This is the absurdity of man.
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Since childhood, I'd dreamed of making a film, but producers in France and Germany wanted to make commercial films with chinoiserie. I refused.
Gao XingjianRead
Literature transcends national boundaries, racial boundaries. It goes deep into the issues that concern all human beings. That is why, when people read Greek tragedy - it doesn't matter who reads it - they are still moved by it.
Gao XingjianRead
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