From What-is all the world of things was born But What-is sprang in turn from What-is-not.
Interpretation
This quote explores the relationship between existence and non-existence, emphasizing that everything that exists arises from the absence of what does not exist.
Laozi's quote illustrates a fundamental philosophical concept where the material world is a result of both what exists and what does not exist. It suggests that the essence of reality is intertwined with the void of possibilities, highlighting how creation stems from the interplay between being and non-being. This idea resonates with the notion that understanding existence involves acknowledging what is absent and the potential for everything that has not yet come to be.
In practice
In a philosophical discussion about the nature of reality.
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.
Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.
Philosophy makes progress not by becoming more rigorous but by becoming more imaginative.
Men, forever tempted to lift the veil of the future-with the aid of computers or horoscopes or the intestines of sacrificial animals-have a worse record to show in these sciences than in almost any scientific endeavor.
You put too much stock in human intelligence, it doesn't annihilate human nature.
That is the real spiritual awakening, when something emerges from within you that is deeper than who you thought you were. So, the person is still there, but one could almost say that something more powerful shines through the person.
The natural function of the wing is to soar upwards and carry that which is heavy up to the place where dwells the race of gods. More than any other thing that pertains to the body it partakes of the nature of the divine.
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