APAD: quod me nutrit me destruit

Meaning:

    The Latin phrase quod me nutrit me destruit translates to "that which

    nourishes me destroys me". It suggests that the forces of nourishment and

    destruction are essentially the same, and that one can be sustained and

    diminished by the same force.

- google

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I saw the phrase in Harry Mount's "Carpe Diem: Put A Little Latin in Your Life,"

a petite volume in the library's foreign language section. The author pointed

out, among other examples, that these words, tatooed on Anglelina Jolie's arm(or

her back, I can't remember), attested to Latin's cachet. Prestige aside, "what

nourishes me destroys me," carries a dash of taoist duality.

 

In a recent college questionaire, my highschooler answered Journey to the West

to "what's your favorite childhood book?", and "what's your favorite quote?"

with Kanye West's "Everything I am not made me everything I am." The latter

spoke to him, he said, something he could relate.

 

The clever wording failed to impress dad as much, however. "Another hash of 

the yin-yang," I said. "Remember, in the Tao, you have a much richer heritage."

(I felt natural that people everywhere should discover the same truth, over and over again.)

 

See, for example, in Chapter 11 of the Tao Te Ching

    埏埴（shān zhí）以為器，當其無，有器之用。

    Working clay into a container, you make the inside hollow.

    Because it is hollow, it is useful as a container.

    鑿戶牖（yǒu）以為室，當其無，有室之用

    Cutting the wall when building a house, you've got doors and windows.

    Their emptiness makes it useful as a room.