Notable quotes:
- “The reason why rivers and seas receive the homage of a hundred mountain streams is that they keep below them. Thus they are able to reign over all the mountain streams. so the sage, wishing to be above men, putteth himself below them; wishing to be before them, he putteth himself behind them. Thus, though his place be above men, they do not feel his weight; though his place be before them, they do not count it as an injury” Lao Tzu
- The first line may be interpreted should we want others to respect us, we must respect them first, alternatively, if we want others to consider our thoughts then we must consider their thoughts first
- The second line may be interpreted as a reiteration of the first line which is if we want others to respect us, then respect must come from the individual first
- The third line may be interpreted as should an individual’s position be respected amongst the people they are with, those people wouldn’t be aware of how much respect was given to said individual. The respected individual’s earned respect does not threaten the people’s own positions in relations to the individual’s, as a result, the given respect is something people would not doubt to be given in the first place.
- Context: on showing others kindness, tolerance, and patience as “[We] are god[s] in the chrysalis”
- Regardless of your religious background (of which isn’t the point of this statement, anyways), the symbolism of god means that we have the potential to act as a moral authority figure similar to God when we are able to show others kindness even in situations that cause anger to arise in ourselves
- A story that contains a lesson: “There are two weathers present in the sky. One of wind, the other the sun. An elderly man walking in a park wore a thick coat around him. The Wind makes a bet with the Sun, saying, “I bet I can blow the coat off this gentleman!” The Sun agrees to the bet, so the Sun goes behind the cloud to give Wind a turn. The Wind created strong, battering, waves of wind that turn into a tornado. The man pulled the coat even tighter around himself! The Wind gave up. The Sun, however, in their turn came out from behind the clouds and smiled warmly down upon the man. The rays of sunlight washes across the man’s face after having been bitten by the ferocious wind. The man found himself dabbing at his forehead with a piece of tissue paper, finding himself growing warmer and warmer. He eventually takes off his coat because it has become too warm, and continues on his walk”.
- The lesson that is relevant in this story was shown to be through “force and fury” you would achieve resistance or rejection from what you seek. To achieve the result you’d like then a more gentle, and gradual process might be better.
Kaniz X 