How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #1
Those whom heaven helps we call the sons of heaven. They do not learn this by learning. They do not work it by working. They do not reason it by using reason. To let understanding stop at what cannot be understood is a high attainment. Those who cannot do it will be destroyed on the lathe of heaven. — Chuang Tse: XXIII (3.0)
This quote is the epigraph to chapter 3. It comes from one of the most famous Taoist philosophers ever, but it's actually a mistranslation—head over to our "What's Up With the Title" section for more about that. But even in this translation, it's easy to see what Taoism prizes: simplicity, naturalness, and action based on following the middle path, or Tao. If you try to force things or exert your own will too strongly, you will upset the Tao, and it will come back to bite you.
Quote #2
When the Great Way is lost, we get benevolence and righteousness. — Lao Tse: XVIII (5.0)
Isn't this confusing? You'd expect negative things to happen when the Great Way is lost, but aren't benevolence and righteousness positive things? First, check out these translations. The key here is that we have to change our understanding of what these words mean. Think about Dr. Haber, for example. We're sure that he considers himself righteous and benevolent, but he also ends up almost destroying the world. So maybe what this passage is trying to tell us is that benevolence and righteousness are not necessarily positive in and of themselves, since in some contexts, they may refer to people attempting to force good things to happen. As we see with Dr. Haber and the results of his actions, that only ends up in a bad way.
Quote #3
"You speak as if that were some kind of general moral imperative." He looked at Orr with his genial, reflective smile, stroking his beard. "But in fact, isn't that man's very purpose on earth—to do things, change things, run things, make a better world?"
"No!" (6.60)
This is Dr. Haber and George speaking. Here and in other places in the novel, you could basically take these two characters as mouthpieces for Taoism (George) and Utilitarianism (Dr. Haber). So, of course, when Dr. Haber proposes that changing the world for good is the purpose of mankind, our Taoist has one answer: no.
Quote #4
"You're of a peculiarly passive outlook for a man brought up in the Judeo-Christian-Rationalist West. A sort of natural Buddhist. Have you ever studied the Eastern mysticisms, George?" The last question, with its obvious answer, was an open sneer. (6.65)
It's interesting that we get to see several moments when other characters react negatively to the idea of eastern religions or philosophies. These sorts of beliefs were explicitly linked with hippies during the '60s and '70s. Why do you think Ursula Le Guin shows characters reacting negatively to these views?
Quote #5
Those who have returned in pure compassion to the wheel, those who follow the way that cannot be followed without knowing they follow it, the sharecropper's wife in Alabama and the lama in Tibet and the entomologist in Peru and the millworker in Odessa and the greengrocer in London and the goatherd in Nigeria and the old, old man sharpening a stick by a dry streambed somewhere in Australia, and all the others. There is not one of us who has not known them. There are enough of them, enough to keep us going. Perhaps. (7.96)
Heather Lelache is wondering if there are other people like George. There are a ton of things to talk about here, but let's look at that wheel for a moment. The wheel that Heather is talking about is probably the wheel of time or history (Kalachakra) found in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is a symbol of how time is cyclical, meaning that it continually repeats itself in different forms. Oh, and that way that cannot be followed? That's Taoism, of course. So is Heather right? Is time cyclical in this novel? What happens when Dr. Haber changes history? Do patterns continue to repeat?
Quote #6
"So what? Maybe that's all it's ever been! Whatever it is, it's all right. You don't suppose you'd be allowed to do anything you weren't supposed to do, do you? Who the hell do you think you are! There is nothing that doesn't fit, nothing happens that isn't supposed to happen. Ever! What does it matter whether you call it real or dreams? It's all one— isn't it?" (7.143)
You might be tempted to think that this is George, but based on the number of exclamation marks and curse words, it's obvious that it's Heather speaking here. You can't force things to happen, she says, and things that are not supposed to happen will not happen. Is that what happens in this story? Bad things sure do happen, but then everything does turn out all right—for everyone except Dr. Haber, that is. So is the Taoist philosophy vindicated?
As for the distinction between reality and dreams? There's a Taoist story about a man who dreams he is a butterfly, and the question arises: which is real? The man or the butterfly? How does anyone actually know?
Quote #7
A person who believes, as she did, that things fit: that there is a whole of which one is a part, and that in being a part one is whole: such a person has no desire whatever, at any time, to play God. Only those who have denied their being yearn to play at it. (7.148)
It's interesting that even though Heather is not depicted as some kind of big symbol of Taoism, she still seems to share the same kinds of thoughts that George has about religion. She's not interested in power or in changing everything about the world. She just wants things to stop being crazy.
Quote #8
"I believe it's time for you to know that, within the frame of reference of those standardized but extremely subtle and useful tests, you are so sane as to be an anomaly. Of course, I'm using the lay word 'sane,' which has no precise objective meaning; in quantifiable terms, you're median. Your extraversion/introversion score, for instance, was 49.1. That is, you're more introverted than extraverted by .9 of a degree. That's not unusual; what is, is the emergence of the same damn pattern everywhere, right across the board. If you put them all onto the same graph you sit smack in the middle at 50. (9.46)
Taoism is sometimes called the way, or the Great Way, or even the Middle Way. (The word "Tao" has many meanings, including "way" or "path.") Why the Middle Way? Because it seeks to avoid all extremes. It's not so much about giving stuff up as it is about finding balance. So guess who's super-duper in the middle of everything? That's right, George.
Quote #9
He had straightened up and towered over Orr, who was still sitting down. He was gray, large, broad, curly bearded, deep-chested, frowning. Your God is a jealous God. "I'm sorry, George, but you're not in a position to say that."
Orr's gods were nameless and unenvious, asking neither worship nor obedience. (9.106)
Here, Dr. Haber is standing in for the Judeo-Christian viewpoint, while George is standing in for the Taoist viewpoint. Even though it might be a little surprising, there actually are a large number of Taoist deities (at least in some forms of Taoism), but they are very different from the monotheistic God of the Abrahamic religions. Instead, they are like beings that have roles to play, and they have titles instead of names. The basic idea is that the gods, just like everyone and everything else, are just manifestations of the Tao.
Quote #10
Of course (his thoughts proceeded, also at a walking pace), it that's true, then the whole world as it now is should be on my side; because I dreamed a lot of it up, too. Well, after all, it is on my side. That is, I'm a part of it. Not separate from it. I walk on the ground and the ground's walked on by me, I breathe the air and change it, I am entirely interconnected with the world. (10.30)
George wins, and this is the whole goal of Taoism: to become one with nature and the world. And George's reward? Well, he gets to save the world, for one thing. That's something Dr. Haber tried to do on his own terms and failed; George saves the world by essentially sticking to the Middle Path and letting the Tao work through him.