"Life is a journey. Time is a river. The door is a jar."
-- Dresden Files

"She looks shallow, but she's neck deep in the steamy dreams of the guys along the harbor bars."
-- Hold Steady, "Certain Songs"

"I saw one of those magazines that you get in the subway," he says. "And there was a poll in it: Should the late pope be declared a saint? And one guy who answered was this 18-year-old kid who said, 'No, he didn't really do anything.' I'm like, 'You know, I'm sure you got some sweet stuff going on in the dorm room up there, but...' "
--Craig Finn

 

All from Kino's Journey

While talking about a rouge author,
Hermes: You do know he's crazy, right?
Kino: All I know is normal people would never become authors.

Helping strangers in the woods,
Kino: I understand that my own food comes at the price of another creature's life, but this time the food's not for me. I have neither resentment nor obligation toward either the man or the rabbit- still I chose to help one at the cost of the other.

Kino: Why do the people of this nation build this tower?
Man: Why? I don't know. I only stock the bricks.

 

The Denarian Renegade
by Shezza88

 

Esse Quam Videri

Once We Were Warriors

 

Interesting reading. Dialogue is a bit one-sided and arrogant though.

–Tao Te Ching

It's a silly book but I just love how all the nonsense in it makes sense.

 

If it's just nonsense, you're not reading it right. Zen grew where Taoism met Buddhism, read it as a koan. It is meant for careful consideration and meditation, a man can spend years considering the form and nuances of the passages. It isn't about a straightforward translation or transliteration, even if chinese is your native tongue you must consider it carefully.

That bit about not being able to change the world, is it referring to the world a static and unchangable object? Saying that you can only change yourself? Saying that you should change your outlook until the world is as you wish? Saying it is the world that changes you? Maybe the answer is none of these and maybe it is all of them together. Perhaps it was merely Lao Tsu being a pessimist.

The phrases are meaningless, each person must determine the meaning and purpose of each applied to his life. Form and function, meaning and import, yin and yang... That is Taoism.

 

LOL

Best spelling stuff-up since that one about gingerbread transvestites.

 

Ah interesting perspective.

I call the book nonsense because it is. Do A not B without doing A or "Yes is No". It's essentially as you've described: the words are without meaning but despite that communicate an idea.

When I called it nonsense, I didn't mean it's silly to believe (I consider what it says mostly true, although its views of almost total anarchism are purely ideal – no one is going to ever "do nothing" and "teach without speaking, act without doing" no ruler will ever be so invisible that his country appears to be ruled by its people, not in this lifetime anyway) but rather silly in that it's nothing. But nothing's everything, so then it is everything. Hah.

It's impossible for me to relate (I have been sitting here idle for 10 minutes trying to think of the words to describe this; another 10 re-reading what I've wrote a hundred times – and as you can see from my parenthetical instertations, I am rambling all over the place), but I do understand the message (although probably not as well as some, I don't meditate, although I do think of and memorize some of the phrases from time to time).

I meant silly as in... silly. If I'd meant it was a stupid book, I would have said it was ridiculous, if I'd meant it was central to living, I would have said it was truth, if I'd meant it was simply interesting, I would have said that too. However, to describe Taoism with any of those adjectives almost seems to defeat the purpose of the lesson it is trying to reveal. Silly is the only word I can think of that has no connotation, and can be taken either way, as bad or good. Truth or lie. Right or wrong. Real or dream.

 

Meh. tl; dr.

 

[assuming that you are adressing my last post]

Which is why I called it nonsene and silly. It's a succinct statement without needless and troublesome explanation.

But I digress, let's get back to awesome quotes.

 

And I took that statement as him meaning that the world is already perfect, we just cannot see it. i.e. an optimist.

The meanings we get from those quotes truly do depend solely on the person reading them.

 

'“He’s decided to name his owl Voldemrot,” Minerva replied, “and is explaining to the owl exactly what You-Know-Who has done, because he changed two letters to get the owl’s name. I don’t know whether to be amused by the fact he’s explaining the name he chose to the owl, or be disturbed that he named the owl after the…thing that killed his parents.”
“Actually, I suppose you’re no better because you sound like some sort of mold that could destroy houses and disease small children,” the boy [Harry] snorted from his place on the floor, “Voldemrot… ‘I’m sorry,’” the boy mocked in a deep voice, “‘but you have The-Rot-That-Must-Not-Be-Named in your basement.’”
Snape choked on his tea.'
So Sue Me by lunakatrina

 

Dark Respite by Omagic

 

Gabriel by Shikatanai

 

I love that story, read it three times already (though that's because I'm incapable of just reading updates, I have to read the whole thing again).

Linking is nice. It means I can be lazy and not brave the fanfic search system...

 

"You were once shoved headfirst through someone's vagina. Why are you acting so dignified?"
--XKCD

(Old, but still win.)

 

Harry Potter and the Overdone Plot Devices

 

From Xander-Hog Day by Tohonomike

Blatantly super!Xander but fun none the less and decently long (200+k words in the three part story). Most importantly, COMPLETE!