[ audio/open ]
"Human beings are
soft and supple when alive,
stiff and straight when dead."
This is a popular quotation that originated in the Tao De Ching; it was said by Lao Tzu. The remainder of the text goes on to extol the virtues of flexibility: "The army that is inflexible will not conquer; the tree that cannot bend will snap." However, like many such conceptions the accepted meaning is not the only correct interpretation.
[Someone is bored. I wonder who?]
What would you trade for immortality?
soft and supple when alive,
stiff and straight when dead."
This is a popular quotation that originated in the Tao De Ching; it was said by Lao Tzu. The remainder of the text goes on to extol the virtues of flexibility: "The army that is inflexible will not conquer; the tree that cannot bend will snap." However, like many such conceptions the accepted meaning is not the only correct interpretation.
[Someone is bored. I wonder who?]
What would you trade for immortality?