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.
ZhuangziRead
Thus, those who say they would have right without its correlate, wrong; or good government without its correlate, misrule, do not apprehend the great principles of the universe, nor the nature of all creation.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that concepts such as right and wrong, or good and bad governance, are interdependent and cannot be understood in isolation.
Zhuangzi emphasizes the interconnectedness of opposing concepts, asserting that one cannot truly comprehend 'right' without recognizing its counterpart 'wrong', nor can one understand 'good government' without acknowledging the existence of 'misrule'. This reflects a deeper philosophical understanding that life and the universe are governed by dualities, and recognizing these dualities is essential for grasping the fundamental nature of existence.
Themes
InterconnectednessDualityPhilosophyRightWrong
In practice
Example use cases
Discussing the complexity of moral decisions in a philosophy class.
More from Zhuangzi
All quotes →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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