--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Winds flap the sail, tortoise and snake…" description: "\"Winds flap the sail, tortoise and snake are silent, a great plan looms. A bridge will fly over this moat dug by heaven and be a road from north to sout..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/mao-zedong-1123_bridges_winds-flap-the-sail-tortoise-and-snake-a_53632.jpg" --- # Winds flap the sail, tortoise and snake are silent, a… ![“Winds flap the sail, tortoise and snake are silent, a great plan looms. A bridge will fly over this moat dug by heaven and be a road from north to south. We will make a stone wall against the upper river to the west and hold back steamy clouds and rain of Wu peaks. Over tall chasms will be a calm…” quote by Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/mao-zedong-1123_bridges_winds-flap-the-sail-tortoise-and-snake-a_53632.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/mao-zedong-1123_bridges_winds-flap-the-sail-tortoise-and-snake-a_53632.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/mao-zedong-1123_bridges_winds-flap-the-sail-tortoise-and-snake-a_53632.jpg) > “Winds flap the sail, tortoise and snake are silent, a great plan looms. A bridge will fly over this moat dug by heaven and be a road from north to south. We will make a stone wall against the upper river to the west and hold back steamy clouds and rain of Wu peaks. Over tall chasms will be a calm lake, and if the goddess of these mountains is not dead she will marvel at the changed world.” [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A visionary description of transformative infrastructure reshaping nature and society, portraying human ingenuity overcoming natural barriers. **In simple terms:** Vision of grand engineering altering the landscape. Key Takeaway Human ambition can reshape environments. Themes Transformation Nature vs. Civilization Visionary Planning Mythic Imagery Scale Mood Awe Determination Optimism Type Visionary Epic Political When to use this quote - National development projects - Large-scale engineering feats - Cultural narratives of progress - Strategic planning discussions - Environmental impact debates Key Concepts Infrastructure Symbolism Geography Power Practical Applications - Urban planning - Policy advocacy Questions to Reflect On - What responsibilities arise when altering natural landscapes? - How does mythic language influence public perception of development? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridges/) [Calm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calm/) [Desert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desert/) [Goddess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goddess/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Lakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lakes/) [Moats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moats/) [Rain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rain/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Sailing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sailing/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Snakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/snakes/) [Stone walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stone-walls/) [Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wall/) [Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I want a big house with a moat and dragons and a fort to keep people out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-beckham/i-want-a-big-house-with-a-moat-and-dragons-and-a-fort-to-keep-people/) [Victoria Beckham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-beckham/) > [Go to the place where the thing you wish to know is native; your best teacher is there. Where the thing you wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/go-to-the-place-where-the-thing-you-wish-to-know-is-native-your-best/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I have built a moat around myself, along with ways over that moat so that people can ask questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-berners-lee/i-have-built-a-moat-around-myself-along-with-ways-over-that-moat-so/) [Tim Berners-Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-berners-lee/) > [the wealthy ... live in marble mausoleums surrounded by the suspicions and neuroses that have replaced the medieval moats which once isolated so-called aristocrats…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsa-maxwell/the-wealthy-live-in-marble-mausoleums-surrounded-by-the-suspicions/) [Elsa Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsa-maxwell/) > [The minorities have been confined to the city by a moat of bigotry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-chisholm/the-minorities-have-been-confined-to-the-city-by-a-moat-of-bigotry/) [Shirley Chisholm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-chisholm/) > [Here we find the moat of thieves. And just as a lizard, with a quick, slick slither, Flicks across the highway from hedge to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/here-we-find-the-moat-of-thieves-and-just-as-a-lizard-with-a-quick/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [You dwell in whitened castles with deep and poisoned moats and cannot hear the curses which fill your children's throats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-dwell-in-whitened-castles-with-deep-and-poisoned-moats-and-cannot/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Let the space under the first storey be dark, let the water lap the stone posts, and vivid green slime glimmer upon them; let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/let-the-space-under-the-first-storey-be-dark-let-the-water-lap-the/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [No formula in finance tells you that the moat is 28 feet wide and 16 feet deep. That's what drives the academics crazy. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/no-formula-in-finance-tells-you-that-the-moat-is-28-feet-wide-and-16/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [George W. Bush's position on illegal immigration is a perfect example of a political compromise. A true conservative would have built a border fence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-gannon/george-w-bush-s-position-on-illegal-immigration-is-a-perfect-example/) [Jeff Gannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-gannon/) > [You can have the most advanced and efflorescent cultures. Get your politics wrong, however, and everything stands to be swept away. This is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/you-can-have-the-most-advanced-and-efflorescent-cultures-get-your/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [How do you compete against a true fanatic? You can only try to build the best possible moat and continuously attempt to widen it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/how-do-you-compete-against-a-true-fanatic-you-can-only-try-to-build/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [I remember my daughter Deni coming along, and she was so pure and caring of everybody and everything. And somehow, this little being managed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-harrelson/i-remember-my-daughter-deni-coming-along-and-she-was-so-pure-and/) [Woody Harrelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-harrelson/) > [In business, I look for economic castles protected by unbreachable 'moats'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/in-business-i-look-for-economic-castles-protected-by-unbreachable/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [If I wish to engage, then the enemy, for all his high ramparts and deep moat, cannot avoid engagement; I attack that which he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/if-i-wish-to-engage-then-the-enemy-for-all-his-high-ramparts-and-deep/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) ## More by Mao Zedong > [Firstly, do not fear hardship, and secondly, do not fear death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/firstly-do-not-fear-hardship-and-secondly-do-not-fear-death/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [The most effective method of propaganda directed at the enemy forces is to release captured soldiers and give the wounded medical treatment... Whenever soldiers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/the-most-effective-method-of-propaganda-directed-at-the-enemy-forces/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [We must learn to do economic work from all who know how, no matter who they are. We must esteem them as teachers, learning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/we-must-learn-to-do-economic-work-from-all-who-know-how-no-matter-who/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/a-revolution-is-not-a-dinner-party-or-writing-an-essay-or-painting-a/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [At the beginning of anything out of the ordinary, the mass of the people always dislike it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/at-the-beginning-of-anything-out-of-the-ordinary-the-mass-of-the/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/let-a-hundred-flowers-bloom-let-a-hundred-schools-of-thought-contend/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [ In the struggle to defend the legacy of Leninism . . . \[Stalin\] proved himself to be an outstanding Marxist-Leninist fighter. . . .… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/in-the-struggle-to-defend-the-legacy-of-leninism-stalin-proved/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [New things have to experience difficulties and setbacks as they grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/new-things-have-to-experience-difficulties-and-setbacks-as-they-grow/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [It is necessary to master Marxist theory and apply it, master it for the sole purpose of applying it. If you can apply the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/it-is-necessary-to-master-marxist-theory-and-apply-it-master-it-for/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [It is a very good thing, and a significant one too, to exterminate the bourgeoisie and capitalism in China.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/it-is-a-very-good-thing-and-a-significant-one-too-to-exterminate-the/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [Return to Shaoshan I regret the passing, the dying, of the vague dream: my native orchards thirty-two years ago. Yet red banners roused the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/return-to-shaoshan-i-regret-the-passing-the-dying-of-the-vague-dream/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [We should go to the masses and learn from them, synthesize their experience into better, articulated principles and methods, then do propaganda among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/we-should-go-to-the-masses-and-learn-from-them-synthesize-their/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [Complacency is the enemy of study.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/complacency-is-the-enemy-of-study/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [Women hold up half the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/women-hold-up-half-the-sky/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [Maybe you're afraid of sinking. Don't think about it. If you don't think about it, you won't sink. If you do, you will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/maybe-you-re-afraid-of-sinking-don-t-think-about-it-if-you-don-t/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) [Explore all 287 Mao Zedong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) ## More Bridges quotes > [Poetry has, in a way, been my bridge to my acting career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omari-hardwick/poetry-has-in-a-way-been-my-bridge-to-my-acting-career/) [Omari Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omari-hardwick/) > [Nothing teaches great writing like the very best books do. Yet, good teachers often help students cross that bridge, and I have to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/nothing-teaches-great-writing-like-the-very-best-books-do-yet-good/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [In my rear view mirror the sun is going down sinking behind bridges in the road and I think of all the good things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/in-my-rear-view-mirror-the-sun-is-going-down-sinking-behind-bridges/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/my-first-big-mistake-was-made-when-in-a-moment-of-weakness-i/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [The WPA was one of the most productive elements of FDR's alphabet soup of agencies because it put people to work building roads, bridges,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/the-wpa-was-one-of-the-most-productive-elements-of-fdr-s-alphabet/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you walk, try to think nothing! You can then obtain the silence of a streetlight or a bridge; stop thinking; after that, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/when-you-walk-try-to-think-nothing-you-can-then-obtain-the-silence-of/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [Al Pacino and Jeff Bridges do it for me in a big way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-scanlon/al-pacino-and-jeff-bridges-do-it-for-me-in-a-big-way/) [Angela Scanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-scanlon/) > [Instead of building castles against your enemies, build bridges for them to come to you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/instead-of-building-castles-against-your-enemies-build-bridges-for/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Instead of finding himself in nerd heaven—where every nerd gets fifty-eight virgins to role-play with—he woke up in Robert Wood Johnson with two broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/instead-of-finding-himself-in-nerd-heaven-where-every-nerd-gets-fifty/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Each person is an island unto himself, in a very real sense; and he can only build bridges to other islands if he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rogers/each-person-is-an-island-unto-himself-in-a-very-real-sense-and-he-can/) [Carl Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rogers/) > [The real test of a bridge player isn’t in keeping out of trouble, but in escaping once he’s in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-sheinwold/the-real-test-of-a-bridge-player-isn-t-in-keeping-out-of-trouble-but/) [Alfred Sheinwold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-sheinwold/) > [The law ... allows rich as well as poor to sleep under bridges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/the-law-allows-rich-as-well-as-poor-to-sleep-under-bridges/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [Guys like Todd Bridges never overcame being a child star. You can't have any big failures. I've always felt regular. I played organized ball…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bow-wow/guys-like-todd-bridges-never-overcame-being-a-child-star-you-can-t/) [Bow Wow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bow-wow/) [Browse all 1,521 Bridges quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridges/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Winds flap the sail, tortoise and snake are silent, a great plan looms. A bridge will fly over this moat dug by heaven and be a road from north to south. We will make a stone wall against the upper river to the west and hold back steamy clouds and rain of Wu peaks. 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