“Heaven and Earth are not humane; they treat the ten thousand things as straw dogs.”Lao Zi · Cartea despre Dao și Virtute · -400 · capitolul 5
Nature isn't cruel, just impartial: rain falls on everyone, so nothing is personal.
Straw dogs were ritual objects burned after the ceremony: valued in context, discarded outside it. Lao Zi is not describing a cruel universe but an impartial one — rain falls on rich and poor fields alike. Human mercy creates hierarchies and attachments; the Dao acts uniformly. Understanding this, you stop expecting the world to treat you as special and stop feeling betrayed when hardship strikes you like anyone else.
Why it matters Helps when life feels personally unfair: accepting nature's indifference frees you from the question 'why me?'