Lao Tzu is credited with saying, “The longest journey begins with a single step.” He’s also widely regarded as the father of a philosophy called Taoism. I get the impression that people were more liberal with regards to what was or was not to be considered wisdom back when Lao was in his heyday. “The longest journey begins with a single step.” People say this sort of thing and then collectively nod their heads or smile knowingly to themselves, as if they just realized the significance of the profound truth as it applies to their own lives.
“You know....*takes off glasses*....that’s some true shit. I went to go start the car this morning, right? And I’ll be porked and peppered if that isn’t exactly what I had done; I took a single step and then repeated the action until I’d arrived at my car. And it’s like, it’s been right there, staring me in the face all this time, but I just never thought about it for some reason.”
Is Lao being profound or profoundly obvious? I suspect that he and his crew were so strung out on opiates, sandlewood and soy milk at the time that anything would’ve presented as revelation. But it’s not fair to judge a man based on a single poppy-crazed utterance. Maybe he did have something to say. Let’s see...
Okay, putting aside for a moment that Mr. Tzu (if that’s his real name) clearly lifted this gem from the Big Lebowski (US copyright laws are routinely ignored in Asia’s thriving black-market, a practice, as evidenced here, that pre-dates Christianity), what else could he possibly be saying?
I’ll tell you: The Tao don’t do horse puckey so other people have to pick up after him. This is obviously Lao Tzu desperately trying to justify his constantly nodding off and forcing his already overworked concubines to clean up his dishes, empty the ashtrays and put his Dave Brubeck records back in their sleeves. Another example...
I’ve got a better question: Why were people back then, rulers or serfs, eating money to begin with? Given the marginal nutritional value of most coined currency, it seems that would’ve been considered in his conclusion as well.
Better perhaps, but still not anything I'd call wisdom. You're losing me Lao.
Again, in an act that seems particularly distasteful in light of David Carradines recent passing, he’s just ripping-off Kung Fu. And in the last line he says, “These three are indefinable” but immediately goes on to define them, and as “One” no less, demonstrating that he clearly doesn't understand what "indefinable" means and that even simple math bewildered him.
You can still hear his modern day adherents delivering pearls of wisdom like, “It is what it is” or “It ain’t over till it’s over.” Can we let it go now? Lao Tzu was not a philosopher: He was a drug-addled opium fiend with an appetite for submissive women and jazz music.
And when viewed that way, I don’t know, I guess the cat seems alright.
“You know....*takes off glasses*....that’s some true shit. I went to go start the car this morning, right? And I’ll be porked and peppered if that isn’t exactly what I had done; I took a single step and then repeated the action until I’d arrived at my car. And it’s like, it’s been right there, staring me in the face all this time, but I just never thought about it for some reason.”
Is Lao being profound or profoundly obvious? I suspect that he and his crew were so strung out on opiates, sandlewood and soy milk at the time that anything would’ve presented as revelation. But it’s not fair to judge a man based on a single poppy-crazed utterance. Maybe he did have something to say. Let’s see...
Okay, putting aside for a moment that Mr. Tzu (if that’s his real name) clearly lifted this gem from the Big Lebowski (US copyright laws are routinely ignored in Asia’s thriving black-market, a practice, as evidenced here, that pre-dates Christianity), what else could he possibly be saying?
I’ll tell you: The Tao don’t do horse puckey so other people have to pick up after him. This is obviously Lao Tzu desperately trying to justify his constantly nodding off and forcing his already overworked concubines to clean up his dishes, empty the ashtrays and put his Dave Brubeck records back in their sleeves. Another example...
I’ve got a better question: Why were people back then, rulers or serfs, eating money to begin with? Given the marginal nutritional value of most coined currency, it seems that would’ve been considered in his conclusion as well.
Better perhaps, but still not anything I'd call wisdom. You're losing me Lao.
Again, in an act that seems particularly distasteful in light of David Carradines recent passing, he’s just ripping-off Kung Fu. And in the last line he says, “These three are indefinable” but immediately goes on to define them, and as “One” no less, demonstrating that he clearly doesn't understand what "indefinable" means and that even simple math bewildered him.
You can still hear his modern day adherents delivering pearls of wisdom like, “It is what it is” or “It ain’t over till it’s over.” Can we let it go now? Lao Tzu was not a philosopher: He was a drug-addled opium fiend with an appetite for submissive women and jazz music.
And when viewed that way, I don’t know, I guess the cat seems alright.
