to seek / to look for / to request / to demand / to beseech
求
=
永
:
Mnemonic symbol: a service request bell. You know, the kind you find in a hotel on a service counter.
求
=
永
:
In the outhouse's kitchen, the Queen of Hearts sees a diamond ring and wants to have it immediately. Determined she rings the service bell endlessly to request the immediate handover.
to learn / to study / to imitate / science / -ology
学
=
小
+
冖
+
子
:
Xu Xian wants to study scienceology and learn more about daisies. Just inside the elevator's kitchen, he put some daisies into a prize cup and covered them with a cooking top. He wants to study the growth rate of the daisies depending on the pH of the water in the prize cup.
not to have / no / none / not / to lack / un- / -less
无
=
一
+
𠂇
+
乚
:
Mnemonic symbol: the philosopher Diogenes, who has nothing and wants nothing.
无
=
一
+
𠂇
+
乚
:
Just inside the space station's entrance, Diogenes is annoyed by Willy Walrus, who's playing his flute. Diogenes just wants a peaceful time without being disturbed, so he cuts the flute into pieces with a pair of scissors, and threatens to beat Willy Walrus with a shovel should he annoy Diogenes again.
Mnemonic symbol: 無爲, wu2 wei2, the state of non-doing after having attained complete harmony with the Tao.
Willy Walrus (w) has attained Wu Wei (無) just inside the space station's entrance (Ø2), while from the outside it may seem like he is napping.
坦
=
土
+
旦
:
Tecumseh (t) is finishing the new floor in the anthill (an3). He prepared a traditional floor made out of earth (土) and is finishing it with a mug (旦). He is hammering the floor smooth and level (坦) using the mug.
途
=
余
+
辶
:
Just inside the entrance of the space station (Ø2), Tommy Turtle (tu) is contemplating two different ways (途) to get back to earth. There is a sedan chair (余) but no one to carry it on the one hand, and there is a pair of worn gladiator sandals (辶) on the other hand.