Lao Tzu said, "Knowing can not be destroyed." "It means knowing to stop is that there is no danger.
In this sentence, the key word is "stop", which means to stop. So how do you stop without danger? It is to stop at the right time, that is, to stop when it reaches the appropriate level, that is to say, to do not overdevelop anything, not to overdo it.
If you go too far, you will turn things upside down and go to the opposite side.
As the saying goes, flowers are not red for a hundred days, and people are not good for a hundred days. Doing things well is to receive, which may not get the most, but it will allow us not to have big problems, and we will not be hurt by it.
Being a person does not know how to converge, to gain inches, to blindly compete for fame and profit, and dangers and disasters will also come.
After Fan Li and Wen Zhong's assistant Yue Wang Gou Jian defeated the State of Wu and dominated the world, and made great achievements, the two chose to be completely different. Fan Li retreated bravely, buried his name in anonymity, became rich in business, became a rich man in the world, and was able to die a good death, known to the world as "loyal to the country, wise to protect himself, business to get rich, and become famous in the world"; and Wen Zhong coveted the name of merit, did not listen to Fan Li's advice, and was finally deceived and given a sword to commit suicide.
Lao Tzu admonished the people: "Success, fame, retirement, the way of heaven." "After a person's achievement reaches a certain level, he must retire in time after he has achieved fame."
Cai Gen Tan: "The title should not be too grand, too prosperous is dangerous; the ability should not be exhausted, and the best of the hua is declining; the friendship should not be too high, and if it is too high, it will be destroyed." This means that officials and lords should not reach the point of prosperity, for if they are too prosperous, they will be dangerous; they should not be excessive, otherwise they will turn into decay; and their behavior should not be too ostentatious, and publicity will attract slander and even disaster.
To know is to know where to stop, is to go on again. If you don't stop, there's danger.
The famous Russian writer Tolstoy wrote such a small story: a farmer came out early every morning and returned to cultivate a small piece of barren land, and the harvest was very small, and he could not support his family. The angel took pity on him when he saw that he was very hard, and said to him, "Keep running forward, and all the places you run through belong to him." When the farmer heard this, he spread his legs and ran forward, he was very tired and wanted to rest, but as soon as he thought of more land, he ran desperately, and finally fell to his death because of his lack of strength.
If the farmer stops when he is physically exhausted, he can own a part of the land, which is enough to support his family, or he may become a rich family on one side, let alone die because of desperate running. He died, and no matter how much land he owned, he could not enjoy it.
This story tells us that the more we want, the greater the price we pay. When it must be clear to a certain extent, it must be closed at the right time, and if it is not stopped, the result will be ruined.
The couplet of the Zhitong Temple in "Dream of the Red Chamber": "There is a remnant of forgetting to shrink his hand behind him, and there is no way to turn back." "There is already excess wealth behind him, there is already food and clothing, and he can even leave it to future generations, but he still does not know satisfaction, and he does not want to give up, until he touches his head and bleeds, and then he wants to turn back, and it is too late."
Lao Tzu admonished people, "It is better to hold on to what you have gained than you have." It is better to educate people that when they get enough, it is better to stop at the right time.
Confucianism also advocates "knowing to stop", "University": "Knowing stops and then there is determination." "Knowing where to stop, I settled down and did things with peace of mind.
"Stop" is also a boundary, a boundary, which cannot be crossed, and once the boundary is exceeded, there will be problems. When you reach the border, you have to stop, you can't go beyond it. This bottom line may be the bottom line of morality, or it may be the red line of the law, and once it is exceeded, it will violate the law.
If you know the end, you will do it when you do it, and when you stop it, you will stop it, and you will have a degree of progress and retreat. To be a man, you must stop doing something, conform to things in order to get something, and those who are forbidden cannot be violated, otherwise, they will be punished.
In life, "knowing the stop" is like driving, you can't just step on the accelerator, keep increasing the throttle, there will be a tragedy of car destruction and death. Therefore, it is necessary to control the speed at any time, and know to step on the brakes at any time, and "know the stop" will be away from danger.
(Picture from the Internet, if there is infringement immediately deleted)
Reading to understand life, writing to inherit culture. Welcome to @Ding Xiao Wu Dian and understand the true meaning of traditional culture with you.