Weapons are ominous tools. They are not the noble ruler's tools. He only uses them when he can't avoid it.
Interpretation
Weapons should only be used as a last resort, not as instruments of power.
In this quote, Laozi emphasizes the idea that weapons are inherently dangerous and not suitable for a noble leader's toolkit. A true leader resorts to the use of weapons only when absolutely necessary, portraying a preference for peace and diplomacy over violence and conflict. It serves as a reminder of the heavy responsibility that comes with power and the moral implications of using force.
In practice
In a speech on peacekeeping, one might reference this quote to highlight the importance of diplomacy.
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.
Where the soul is full of peace and joy, outward surrounding and circumstances are of comparatively little account.
Indeed, theological discourse offers its strange jubilation only to the strict extent that it permits and, dangerously, demands of it wokman that he speak beyond his means, precisely because he does not speak of himself. Hence the danger of a speech that, in a sense, speaks against the one who lends himself to it. One must obtain forgiveness for every essay in theology. In all senses.
One, with God, is always a majority, but many a martyr has been burned at the stake while the votes were being counted.
It is so characteristic, that just when the mechanics of reproduction are so vastly improved, there are fewer and fewer people who know how the music should be played.
Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
The subject of death is taboo. We feel, perhaps only subconsciously, that to be in contact with death in any way, even indirectly, somehow confronts us with the prospect of our own deaths, draws our own deaths closer and makes them more real and thinkable.
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