At Kobe, whither I fled from Hong Kong, I took a step of great importance. I cut off my cue, which had been growing all my life.
Interpretation
The quote signifies a powerful moment of transformation and personal sacrifice for a greater purpose.
In this quote, Sun Yat-Sen reflects on a pivotal moment in his life where he decided to cut off his long hairstyle, known as a cue, which symbolized the traditional norms of his upbringing and his connection to his past. This act represents his commitment to change, personal freedom, and the embrace of new ideas that align with his vision for a more progressive China, indicating that sometimes we must let go of our past to pursue a brighter future.
In practice
This quote can inspire a graduation speech addressing the importance of embracing change in one's life.
After the Manchu government had carried on wars with foreign nations and had been defeated, China was forced to sign many unequal treaties. Foreign nations are still using these treaties to bind China, and as a result, China fails at whatever she attempts.
What problem does Pan-Asianism attempt to solve? The problem is how to terminate the sufferings of the Asiatic peoples and how to resist the aggression of the powerful European countries. In a word, Pan-Asianism represents the cause of the oppressed Asiatic peoples.
How can human rights be ever developed for the majority of Chinese people? The only way is to organize. To organize workers, peasants, merchants, industrialists, and students at the grassroots level.
At thirteen, I accompanied my mother to the Hawaiian Islands. There, for the first time, I saw the wonder of a steamship and the vastness of the ocean. From that time on, I was eager to acquire the knowledge of the West and to fathom the mysteries of nature.
Because of poverty, we must adopt the capitalist means of production to develop our resources to get rich. However, if we ignore the issue of social justice at the beginning of China's industrialization, we will sow the seeds of class warfare in the future.
China's republican politics is like a child who just started schooling. He must have a good teacher and be surrounded by good friends. By the same token, the Chinese people, new to the republican politics, must be educated properly. The revolutionary government should be the people's tutor to impart advanced awareness and experience.
Are you going to cater to the whims and prejudices of people? We draw out from other people our own thought. If, when you go out to organize, you go with a broad spirit, you will create and call out breadth and toleration. You had better organize one woman on a broad platform than 10,000 on a narrow platform of intolerance and bigotry.
No matter who you are, no matter what you did, no matter where you've come from, you can always change, become a better version of yourself.
We are here, not because we are law-breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers.
Flow in the living moment. β We are always in a process of becoming and nothing is fixed. Have no rigid system in you, and youβll be flexible to change with the ever changing. Open yourself and flow, my friend. Flow in the total openness of the living moment. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Moving, be like water. Still, be like a mirror. Respond like an echo.
Ideas by themselves cannot produce change of being; your effort must go in the right direction, and one must correspond to the other.
It's time to fundamentally change the way that we do business in Washington. To help build a new foundation for the 21st century, we need to reform our government so that it is more efficient, more transparent, and more creative. That will demand new thinking and a new sense of responsibility for every dollar that is spent.
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