"The usefulness of a pot comes from..." - Quote by Lao Tzu
The usefulness of a pot comes from its emptiness.
More by Lao Tzu
More on Usefulness
“Socrates and Plato are right: whatever man does he always does well, that is, he does that which seems to him good (useful) according to the degree of his intellect, the particular standard of his reasonableness.”
“Clay is molded to form a cup, But it is on its non-being that the utility of the cup depends. Doors and windows are cut out to make a room, But it is on its non-being that the utility of the room depends. Therefore turn being into advantage, and turn non-being into utility.”
“If I had not had so much ambition and not tried to do so many things, I probably would have been happier, but less useful.”
More on Emptiness
“An empty day, though clear and bright, Is just as dark as any night.”
“The value comes from what is there, but the use comes from what is not there.”
“Thirty spokes meet in the hub. Where a wheel isn't is where it's useful. Hollowed out, clay makes a pot. Where the pots not is where it's useful. Cut doors and windows to make a room. Where the room isn't, there's room for you. So the profit in what is, is in the use of what isn't.”