Say What?
A comparison of two quotations is a riddle. Language is a pivot, a fulcrum to rouse understanding in the mind. Zhuangzi, the taoist sage and Ludwig Wittgenstein, a very influential intellectual of the 20th century, “play” in the same sandbox. Jump in the box with them! There’s enough toys for everyone. (A riddle naturally confounds. The punch line clue is at the very end)
The spirit-like man does not inquire
how the sage acts to dazzle the world.
The sage does not inquire
how the man/woman of virtue and ability acts
to astonish his age.
The man/woman of virtue and ability
does not ask the superior man/woman
how he acts to astound the state;
The superior man/woman does not ask the small man
how he adapts himself to the time.
Zhuangzi trans. by Hyun Höchsmann and Yang Guorong, Book 26 External Things
Meine Sätze erläutern dadurch, dass sie der, welcher mich versteht, am Ende als unsinnig erkennt, wenn er durch sie – auf ihnen – über sie hinausgestiegen ist. (Er muss sozusagen die Leiter wegwerfen, nachdem er auf ihr hinaufgestiegen ist.)
Er muss diese Sätze überwinden, dann sieht er die Welt richtig.
My propositions serve as elucidations in the following way: anyone who understands me eventually recognizes them as nonsensical, when he has used them—as steps—to climb beyond them. (He must, so to speak, throw away the ladder after he has climbed up it.)
He must transcend these propositions, and then he will see the world aright.
—Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (published 1921 in German)
Here is the clue.
Fishing-stakes are used for catching fish;
once the fish have been caught
men forget the stakes.
Snares are used to catch hares,
but when the hares have been caught
men forget the snares.
Words are used to convey ideas,
but when the ideas are understood
men forget the words.
Where can I find a man
who has forgotten his words
so that I might talk with him?
Zhuangzi trans. by Hyun Höchsmann and Yang Guorong, Book 26 External Things