Things I’ve Learned While Roaming the Earth

This second installment of quotes to live by comes from one of my favorite eras, the ancient world.  I don’t know why, but there’s an extra spark of something indefinable that comes from quotes that are many thousands of years ago.  When a completely different culture that existed thousands of years ago says something that resonates with you, it carries an extra magic with it, a wonder and awe that someone so distant in culture and time could even impart a wisdom that would resonate deeply with someone who grew up in the fast pace society of modern America.  So, without further ado, here is one of my favorite quotes to live by from the Tao Te Ching:

“He who stands on tiptoe
doesn’t stand firm.
He who rushes ahead
doesn’t go far.
He who tries to shine
dims his own light.
He who defines himself
can’t know who he really is.
He who has power over others
can’t empower himself.
He who clings to his work
will create nothing that endures.”

I love, first of all, how the entire quote is set up in diametrically opposite couplets, that is, everything is black and white.  There’s one side, and there’s the other side. It really helps me to see myself clearer when I think of things in black and white.  Each of these pairings is meaningful enough to be a quote to live by, and this entire stanza resonates with me, but the last two pairings speak especially powerfully to me.  “He who has power over others can’t empower himself.”  How true that is when you stop to think about it.  The only person I can and should control is me.

But my favorite is the last pairing, “He who clings to his work will create nothing that endures.”  This year has been one of many failings for me.  I’ve worked very hard at many projects and had to slowly watch many of them fail.  My first instinct was to just keep at it, keep trying, be diligent.  But that only filled me will strife and anxiety.  Learning not to cling to my work was one of the hardest but most meaningful lessons I’ve ever learned.

And finally, I also really like the middle pairing because it clashes so heavily with the current American philosophical mentality.  “He who defines himself can’t know who he really is.”  Current American philosophy says that each of us creates our own meaning and each of us defines himself and herself.  But according to this, and also what I hold to be true, meaning and the definition of what it means to truly be human exists outside of us.  It defines us, we don’t define it.

Thanks for reading my favorite quotes to live by.  I very much hope you enjoyed!

If you liked this post, you’ll definitely like Ben’s book Mountainside — a poetic and philosophical look at life in the modern age.


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