Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Water is the softest and most yielding substance.
Yet nothing is better than water,
for overcoming the hard and rigid,
because nothing can compete with it.

Everyone knows that the soft and yielding
overcomes the rigid and hard,
but few can put this knowledge into practice.

Therefore the Master says:
“Only he who is the lowest servant of the kingdom,
is worthy to become its ruler.
He who is willing to tackle the most unpleasant tasks,
is the best ruler in the world.”

True sayings seem contradictory.

================================================================

This chapter strangely reminds me of Jesus portrayed as a humble servant of God and an apt ruler of the kingdom endorsed by God.

I must say that the content of this chapter can be realized only in a small village or community. Elsewhere, none of this can work. The larger a country grows, the more difficult it becomes to exercise control. What mostly matters in today’s arena of politics is an image of humility and not whether you are really humble deepest in your mind.

“True sayings seem contradictory.“

Soren Kierkegaard also notes that truth is paradoxical. He likes to discuss various subject matters from a paradoxical point of view. (Upon reading even several excerpts from his books, however, people like me should risk feeling all gloomy and dark and being contaminated by his depressive thoughts. There is something about Kierkegaard that makes me not want to read him. His thoughts and tendencies are somewhat suffocating. Unlike Nietzsche, another pioneer of “existentialism,” his writings seem to lack energy even though they might be insightful. His biography is also distinctly lethargic and “lame.”)

Although several philosophers including Kierkegaard like to deliberately employ paradox as a tool for unfolding their ideas, it does appear that truths are inherently paradoxical and cannot be expressed other than through paradoxical statements. Even in formal mathematics, there is a paradox. Godel solidly proved it.