Quotes to Live By -- Ancient Chinese Poetry



Posted: Tuesday, December 22, 2009

by Ben Mester
Plan B Publishing

A good quote is one of the best things ever. A really good quote can have the power to completely alter the course of a person's life and change the destructive path they're on. This particular quote to live by comes from my favorite time period, the ancient world. I'm not quite sure why, but there seems to be an extra spark of an indefinable something that comes when you read a powerful quote that comes from many thousands of years ago. When a culture that's so different from mine, existing at a completely different time and place, writes something that resonates powerfully with me, it carries something extra special along with it, bringing a wonder and an awe just for the fact that someone in such a distant culture could even impart life wisdom and deeply affect a person who grew up in the hustle and bustle of a modern city. And so, here it is, one of my favorite quotes to live by, from ancient China in 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 makes it a lot easier to see myself clearly when I look at 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." Isn't that so true when you stop and 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 how to not cling to the work that I do was definitely one of the most difficult but also one of the 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 as far as this goes, and also according to what I believe, meaning and the definition of what it means to really be a human being has to come from outside of us. It defines us, we don't define it. When we define ourselves and give meaning to ourselves, how do we really know that either are real?

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Thanks for reading this article on one of my favorite quotes from ancient China. If you enjoyed, visit my blog where more of my favorite quotes to live by can be found.
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