A great country is like the lower outlet of a river. It is the world's meeting ground, the world's female.
Interpretation
A great nation serves as a unifying force and nurtures diverse cultures and ideas.
Laozi's quote likens a great country to the lower outlet of a river, emphasizing its role as a converging point for various peoples and cultures. Just as a river gathers water from different sources and flows into the ocean, a successful nation brings together diverse influences, fostering harmony and collaboration, making it a nurturing ground for human development and creativity.
In practice
In a speech about national unity, one might quote Laozi to emphasize the importance of inclusivity.
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 no such thing as an attention span. There is only the quality of what you are viewing. This whole idea of an attention span is, I think, a misnomer. People have an infinite attention span if you are entertaining them.
I feel a whole country growing inside me, thousands of years, millions of people, stupid, crazy, shrewd people, and all of them me. I never felt like that before, I never felt that there was anything inside me, even myself.
We remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America.
The universal brotherhood of man is our most precious possession.
All significant concepts of the modern theory of the state are secularized theological concepts.
In my view all salvation for philosophy may be expected to come from Darwin's theory
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