Where the Pot’s Not

 

Thirty spokes
meet in the hub.
Where the wheel isn’t
is where it’s useful.

 

 

Hollowed out,
clay makes a pot.
Where the pot’s not
is where it’s useful.

 

 

Cut doors and windows
to make a room.
Where the room isn’t,
there’s room for you.

 

 

So the profit in what is
is in the use of what isn’t.

 

 

– Tao Te Ching: Chapter 11. Translated by Ursula K. Le Guin (1998)