When the world is ruled according to the Way, the ghosts lose their power. The ghosts do not really lose their power, but it is not used to harm people.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that when society adheres to a natural and ethical way of living, negative influences or harmful forces lose their ability to cause harm.
Laozi's quote reflects on the idea that when governance and social order align with a harmonious and principled way of living, the disruptive and malevolent forces in society, metaphorically referred to as 'ghosts', are rendered ineffective. It speaks to the potential of a well-ordered world to diminish the impact of negativity and malice, suggesting that these negative forces do not truly disappear but rather lose their potency when people live in a manner that respects the natural order. The essence of the quote emphasizes the importance of following a guiding philosophy that promotes peace and harmony.
In practice
During a motivational keynote speech about leadership and ethics.
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.
To be ruthless requires belief that our life on earth is but a brief prelude to an afterlife, or a temporary sacrifice before some utopia can be instituted._x000D_ _x000D_ Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.
It is the responsibility of the citizens to support their government. It is not the responsibility of the government to support its citizens.
RITUALISM, n. A Dutch Garden of God where He may walk in rectilinear freedom, keeping off the grass.
However much we obfuscate or ignore it, we know that the factory farm is inhumane in the deepest sense of the word. And we know that there is something that matters in a deep way about the lives we create for the living beings most within our power. Our response to the factory farm is ultimately a test of how we respond to the powerless, to the most distant, to the voiceless--it is a test of how we act when no one is forcing us to act one way or another.
They do not want to know that centralization is not only the death-knell of liberty, but also of health and beauty, of art and science, all these being impossible in a clock-like, mechanical atmosphere.
O Lord! You are the guide of those who are passing through the Valley of Bewilderment. If I am a heretic, enlarge my heresy.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.