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Good order results spontaneously when things are let alone
Zhuangzi
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Good organization naturally occurs when things are left to their own devices.

This quote by Zhuangzi suggests that the natural state of things is one of harmony and order, provided that interference is minimized. It implies that when we allow things to exist without undue influence or control, they can develop in a balanced way, reflecting their true nature.

Themes

OrderHarmonyNatureBalancePhilosophy

In practice

Example use cases

During a meditation session, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of letting thoughts settle naturally.

More from Zhuangzi

The hearing that is only in the ears is one thing. The hearing of the understanding is another. But the hearing of the spirit is not limited to any one faculty to the ear, or to the mind.
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Either in conflict with others or in harmony with them, we go through life like a runaway horse, unable to stop.
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When people do not ignore what they should ignore, but ignore what they should not ignore, this is known as ignorance.
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The true man of the past waited upon Heaven when dealing with people and did not wait upon people when dealing with Heaven.
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The mind remains undetermined in the great Void. Here the highest knowledge is unbounded. That which gives things their thusness cannot be delimited by things. So when we speak of 'limits', we remain confined to limited things. The limit of the unlimited is called 'fullness.' The limitlessness of the limited is called 'emptiness.' Tao is the source of both. But it is itself neither fullness nor emptiness
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All the fish needs is to get lost in the water. All man needs is to get lost in Tao.
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