Tao Te Ching Mad Libs

11. THE UTILITY OF NON-EXISTENCE

Though thirty spokes may form the wheel,
it is the hole within the hub
which gives the wheel utility.

It is not the clay the potter throws,
which gives the pot its usefulness,
but the space within the shape,
from which the pot is made.

Without a door, the room cannot be entered,
and without windows it is dark.

Such is the utility of non-existence.

- from Stan Rosenthal's 1984 translation of the Tao Te Ching

Mad Lib Time!

Though productive work may form an undergraduate thesis, it is the many shiftless days which give the undergraduate perspective.

It is not the "content" the undergraduate fabricates, which gives the undergraduate thesis its value, but the space of possibilities within the words, from which the undergraduate thesis is made.

Without perspective, an undergraduate thesis cannot be let go of, and without detachment it is meaningless.

Such is the rationalization of mediocrity.