The turtle only makes progress when its neck sticks out.

What do people understand by the phrase ‘the turtle only makes progress when its neck sticks out’?

Is it that the tortoise only sticks out its neck when it decides to progress. That it can’t progress if it is in its shell. It cannot succeed if it is hiding inside its shell because it can’t move forward. The time it spends in that shell is time wasted, especially for a slow animal like the turtle. It is the same animal that has lived up to 50 years hiding including the time when it’s sleeping. In fact, the turtle lives almost half its life inside the shell. It hides every time it hears a loud enemy approaching, even on rainy and thunderous days. Wasting most of its time living in fear.

Or maybe you understand it as the turtle that has survived every day, since the first day of its life, outsmarting its foes? The same turtle that had an Ancient Roman Military attack method named after it. For its ability to protect the soldiers not only left, right, front and back, but also from above. Admired by many for sitting in its shell for as long as it can. It has outlasted enemies four-to-five times bigger than it is. Using its only privileged ability to defend against such enemies – to hide and survive. In situations like these it is best for the turtle to hide or else they cease to exist. In fact, the turtle could have died the first day of its life if it never hid.

How do you understand this ancient saying about the turtle and its shell? I would love to hear your opinions on it and gain a different perspective. Thank you for reading and I look forward to it.

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With Love,