Well.
My interpretation?
It’s a view of how people can approach their life.
Sailors go, as the wind.
They understand, or submit to the “will” of things. They do not fight the tides, or the wind. They are better equipped both physically and mentally to “go with the flow” of things. Rather than chart their own course, they will be rewarded by accepting a sort of destiny. If they go with the flow, life can be easier. Faster to travel with the aid of fate, to a preordained place. Drawbacks include being stalled at times when the wind (fate) slows down, making direction unclear. It also means that a sailor has less/little control over their life. But. They’re ultimately ok with that. As most of the time, they are speeding along with the sea’s blessing. They have a high success rate at arriving at “their” destination.
Sailors are more easily satisfied with their lives.
Not a bad way to go.
Paddlers go as they dare. With greater risk, and difficulty.
They aren’t accepting of the way of things. They are more stubborn, and relentless. They have to move more slowly, and often fight the direction they are being pulled. Unlike the the sailor, they do not view themselves as a “slave to the winds.” They are powered by sheer will, and determination. As long as they can paddle, they will go somewhere. So they are rarely stagnant. They don’t/can’t stop paddling.
Drawbacks include failing more often than sailors, at reaching as nice of a destination. Their course requires great physical and mental strength and endurance. Sailors may lose the wind for a moment. But it will eventually fill their sails again.
If a paddler cannot paddle, they are truly lost without method of propulsion.
More paddlers fail than sailors, but when a paddler succeeds, they have beaten greater odds to get to a place THEY desire, not a place that they were fated to be. Unlike sailors, they are not so easily satisfied with their lives. But. At least they chose their own way.
Also. Not a bad way to go.
Many say, that they are both. However. They are at least 50.1%-49.9% of one or the other.
There is no “wrong” type.
Both types will have rewards, and setbacks.
Both will one day be forever lost to the seas, and endless oceans.
There are many ways one can think of to interpret the “saying.”
It’s clearly philosophical…