Let's think about the statement.. Do or Do not. When you try something lets say for example a piece of food, are you actually trying it? No. You are tasting it, as in eating it. It doesn't matter if you spit it out or not. It's already happened and the taste is in your mouth and memory. You did it, that is an action of Doing something. So in essence you are DO-ing, not trying.
Another example, When you say you will "Give something a try..", are you actually just trying? No, you are doing whatever it was you thought you were trying. I'll give riding a bike a try? You either ride the bike or you fall off. Now the end result of that DO-ing will either be a success or failure. Which in the end are the only 2 options as a result. You either Like the food you are tasting or not. You succeed in climbing the hill or not. You succeed in doing the homework or not. You succeed in the science experiment or not. You succeed in your trial run of the new car you develop or not. You succeed in your first screening of the feature film you made or not. On and on in every aspect of activity you do in life.
Yoda is simply posing the statement in a manner of Trial and Error. You either succeed or you don't. So you do it again and either Succeed or Fail. And again and again and again... With Everything in life you either give up or continue working till success. This can be applied to all things in life, especially life itself. You can live(Do) or Die(Do not) there is no Try.
The key to the statement isn't to give up without making the attempt. The point is to go all in on what you are going to do. Don't say try because that means you aren't giving it your best shot and anticipating failure. Just be sure when you start that you don't stop. You keep "DO-ing" till you succeed. Failure doesn't mean stop, it just means you keep going till you finish. The same principle is used in The Scientific Method. You go through the process of discovery and if you don't succeed you start over again. The science experiment succeeds or fails, you start from the beginning again till you find the answer.
Which brings us to the statement that follows.."Size Matters Not." In the move of "EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" Luke fails to lift His X-Wing out of the swamp. He states "I can't. It's to big". Yoda not missing a beat replies, "Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size do you? Hmm?" After Yoda lifts the ship out of the swamp. Luke goes up to him and says,"I don't believe it." Yoda responds with,"That is why you fail."
It doesn't matter how big a failure it is after you start. It doesn't matter the size of the opponents or struggle you face when you do what you are doing. You keep moving forward till you succeed. For in this statement, the only thing holding you back, is you. You start the journey, it's your responsibility to finish it. To pick yourself back up after you fall and keep going.
Yoda My GURU
