Strength vs. Weakness

[Wonkavision]

"....weakness is a great thing, and strength is nothing. When a man is just born, he is weak and flexible, when he dies, he is hard and insensitive. When a tree is growing, it's tender and pliant, but when it's dry and hard, it dies. Hardness and strength are death's companions. Pliancy and weakness are expressions of the freshness of being. Because what has hardened will never win."

----from "Stalker", a film by Andrei Tarkovsky


Any thoughts?

Agree?

Disagree?

Incidentally, I believe this statement contains a great amount of wisdom.

Please share your impressions about it.

 

[Phantonym]

I guess thinking outside the box and not being fixated on any strict ideas will set you free.

Agreed.

There's strength in weakness. You're able to learn more when you admit your weaknesses and work on improving them.

 

[kiddykat]

I totally agree..

My motto has always been: "It's the weaker ones who are truly the strongest, and it's the one's who try to appear strong who are actually weak."

I think that when we can make peace with whatever's plaguing us, hurting us, making us feel insecure/vulnerable, that's when we can fully get in touch with who we are to make the appropriate decisions best meant for our lives..

It's knowing that whatever the unknown is, we still have willpower over ourselves in a mind-over-matter kind of sense. No matter what happens things will always work out for the best?

 

[Sentura]

but if weakness is strength, won't that strength also be a weakness? does this mean we should always focus on weakness?

... i have a better way of putting things: everything in balance.

strength can win over weakness in one area, weakness can win over strength in another. adaptability will get you far, but so will steadfastness. there isn't an ultimate solution to the riddle of life; however through your life, your actions become your being. everything comes naturally.

it should also be noted that the quote is taken out of context. if i remember the book, it's about a post apocalyptic russia with degenerate humans/mutants; and that quote could very well be about those.

 

[jenocyde]

It depends on your value system. I think California Redwoods are pretty bad ass.


(but I love Tarkovsky, though)

 

[professor goodstain]

A bully and one who has been bullied are set lost in the desert individually. Both have equal survival intellect/skills. Survival in such a scenerio is at least 90% mental. Who will last the longest? Who has the most emotional adaptability...and so on. Does emotional somewhat equal mental? Who will panic first is who will not last longer, imo. No need to answer folks. Just Ne N-ing out loud. Who is more aware of weakness and strength, the stronger or weaker?

 

[jenocyde]

very good thought process, professor.

 

[professor goodstain]

very good thought process, professor.

Thanks.

 

[Feops]

Correlation does not imply causation.

To expand on that, the author is saying weakness is good because the youthful are weak, and the youthful are flexible, so to be weak is to be flexible. This doesn't prove a link between weakness and flexibility except that children share these traits.

Here is my opinion. The two have nothing to do with one another. One can be strong and flexible. One can be strong and inflexible. One can be weak and flexible. One can be weak and inflexible. That said, there is no advantage to being weak, there is no drawback of being strong. Always strive to be as strong as you can. Strength is not an evil thing, it is not something to be shunned, it is something to be embraced - strength of mind, body, character.

 

[antireconciler]

but if weakness is strength, won't that strength also be a weakness? does this mean we should always focus on weakness?

... i have a better way of putting things: everything in balance.

strength can win over weakness in one area, weakness can win over strength in another. adaptability will get you far, but so will steadfastness. there isn't an ultimate solution to the riddle of life; however through your life, your actions become your being. everything comes naturally.

Hmm. I'm reminded of the Tao Te Ching here. The OP might find it amicable.

So, there appear to be as follows:

1. strength of the strong - magnificence and magnanimity, confidence and power and benevolence, like what a hero has
2. weakness of the strong - courage in the face of vulnerability, a willingness to be open and flexible, faith and hope, like what a hero has
3. strength of the weak - over-rigidity and domination of others, like what a master has
4. weakness of the weak - non-reflectivity and non-agency, submissivity, like what a slave has

But 1 and 2 are the same. 3 and 4 are the same also, but appear different for the sake of circumstance.

So, with the strong, both strength and "weakness" are strengths, and with the weak, both weakness and "strength" are weaknesses.

 

[Polaris]

I don't agree that weakness comes with flexibility, and strength with rigidity. Flexibility can be the greatest strength, and rigidity the worst weakness.