Countless words _x000D_ count less _x000D_ than the silent balance _x000D_ between yin and yang
Interpretation
Words may be abundant, but true understanding often lies in the silence and balance of opposing forces.
This quote by Laozi emphasizes the significance of silence and balance over mere verbal expression. It suggests that while countless words can be spoken or written, they often fail to convey the deeper understanding that exists in the harmonious interplay of opposite forces, represented in this context by the concepts of yin and yang, which symbolize duality and balance in life.
In practice
In a meditation workshop, one might reflect on Laozi's words to stress the importance of inner peace and balance.
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.
There is nothing we like to communicate to others as much as the seal of secrecy together with what lies under it.
Thought is more than a right - it is the very breath of man. Whoever fetters thought attacks man himself. To speak, to write, to publish, are things, so far as the right is concerned, absolutely identical. They are the ever-enlarging circles of intelligence in action; they are the sonorous waves of thought.
The democratic youth lives along day by day, gratifying the desire that occurs to him, at one time drinking and listening to the flute, at another downing water and reducing, now practicing gymnastic, and again idling and neglecting everything; and sometimes spending his time as though he were occupied in philosophy.
I believe human beings mark a threshold in the development of the planet, of course, but it is only part of the picture. What Big History can do is show us the nature of our complexity and fragility and the dangers that face us, but it can also show us our power, with collective learning.
Let us be dreamers, thinkers, speculative philosophers, or as our spouses would have it: Idiots
We must recognize what in our accepted tradition is damaging to our fate and dignity-and shape our lives accordingly.
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