One on Tiptoe Cannot Stand Long

answered by Laozi, Dao De Jing 24

기원전 6~4세기

🎬 TODAY'S FILM — IT ASKS THIS

3 Idiots (2009)

dir. Rajkumar Hirani · India

Young people are driven to race hastily toward a prescribed success. Is aiming straight at success the faster road, or does success follow like a shadow when one pours into the work one loves and does well?

THE QUESTION THE FILM ASKS

Which is right — to chase success directly, or to pour into what you do well and let success follow?

THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER · ORIGINAL

企者不立跨者不行

📜 THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER

One who stands on tiptoe cannot stand long; one who strides in leaps cannot walk far.

💡 TL;DR

Laozi said one on tiptoe cannot stand long, and one striding in leaps cannot walk far.

📝The Classic Answers

Laozi said one on tiptoe cannot stand long, and one striding in leaps cannot walk far. To chase only success in haste is like standing on tiptoe — it cannot hold. The one who actually goes far is not aimed at success but has planted his soles in the work he does well and loves. Success does not lead but follows like the shadow of that absorption. Rather than rising on tiptoe to snatch a result in haste, I choose to plant both feet in the work at hand.

— ONGO · Curator

🌱Apply It Today

If you're chasing a result in haste today, take your eyes off the goal and plant both feet in the work itself.

📖 Classic Source: Laozi, Dao De Jing 24. Ancient text in the public domain; rendered and interpreted independently by ONGO.
The film is honored as an equal questioner; its plot is rendered only as a universal dilemma. The classic source is an ancient text (Public Domain), and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.