Tao Te Ching

The Power of Goodness, the Wisdom Beyond Words
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Showing 81-100 of 249 items.
Chapter NumberContent
41

When the wise hear of the Tao,
They immediately follow it.
When the conventional hear,
They wonder if it’s true.
When the foolish hear,
They laugh out loud.
If there were no laughter,
It wouldn’t be the Tao.
Therefore these saying arose:

The brightest path seems dark,
Advancing seems like retreating,
The smoothest way seems rough,
The easy way seems hard,
Perfect whiteness looks dirty,
The strongest power seems weak,
The truest truth uncertain,
The pure and simple looks chaotic,
The highest virtue is empty like a valley,

The greatest square has no corners,
The greatest tool has no uses,
The greatest music has no sound,
The greatest image has no form.

The Tao is hidden and nameless
Yet it alone nourishes, sustains
And brings everything to fulfillment

41

Exaggeration—a close kin of lying— may provide a temporary benefit but quickly turns sour as the truth reveals itself. It wastes distinctions, offends the truth, and demonstrates the shallowness of our thinking, understanding and taste. Exaggerated praise kindles a kind of curiosity, desire, and action that quickly corrodes into disillusionment that cheapens the reputation of both the praised and the praiser. The wise avoid overstatement, prefer understating.

42

From the Way came the one
From the one, yin and yang
From yin and yang, heaven & earth & man
From heaven, earth, and man
The 10,000 things.

The 10,000 things with yin at their backs,
With yang embraced
Find harmony joining heaven, earth, & man.
Heaven gives, earth transforms, and man nurtures.

Although all the world hates
Being orphaned, widowed, divorced, destitute;
The most successful people
Identify with these states.
Since we gain by losing,
And we lose by gaining,
These teachings of old continue:
Those who love victory make enemies,
Violence and aggression destroy themselves.

42

True leadership arises from a genuine, a natural, an inborn integrity. More powerful than any kind of trickery or conmanship, this authentic inner authority inspires the respect, the esteem, the faith, the hearts and minds of those around them. Lions because of charisma and kings by way of merit, they often become heads of state, rulers of industry, and managers of movements accomplishing more with a gesture than others do with long speeches.

43

Like water wearing through stone,
The soft and weak become more powerful
Than the strong and hard.
What doesn’t exit finds space anywhere.
This shows the value in not doing.
Beyond the understanding of all but a very few,
This is wordless wisdom,
Accomplishment without effort, without trace.

43

Think like the wise, speak like the foolish. While the wise often see through deception and distorted views easily, the majority of people don't want things to change—even if obviously for the better—and resist, often violently, contradictory opinions. Few welcome the truth; most hear it as insult, a condemnation of their judgement, a threat to their status quo security. For this reason the wise hide their clarity and insights from the common spotlight, avoid contradicting as well as being contradicted, and take refuge in silence, only becoming visible in special contexts to carefully selected people.

44

Which means more to you –
Health or wealth?
What matters more –
Fame or your true name?
Which gives more pain –
Loss or gain?

The more we love something,
The more it will cost.
The bigger the treasure,
The more will be lost.
Contentment keeps disgrace away,
Knowing when to stop keeps danger at bay.

44

Most associations, partnerships, and social cohesion in general appear to have foundations based on common goals, material reward, and various kinds of advantage. Though enough to initiate a team, it seldom creates meaningful work, happiness, loyalty, or longevity. These grow instead from a more subtle source—a deep and natural like-mindedness based on a non-verbal affinity. The mystery and practical usefulness of this more authentic and genuine foundation evolve a type of respect, esteem, and goodwill that persuades without proposal, accomplishes without effort, and can look almost like magic.

45

The greatest perfection seems flawed
Yet has inexhaustible usefulness.
Perfectly full, it seems empty
Yet never runs dry.

True straightness looks crooked,
True skill looks clumsy,
True eloquence sounds tongue-tied.

Still, it overcomes the active;
Active, it overcomes the still.
Opposites complement each other
Becoming the peaceful and serene
That sets the universe in order.

45

Carefully going forward with foresighted caution can become a clear expression of wisdom, confer great advantage, and assure success. Caution however commonly appears as cunning which readily arouses distrust, hatred, and a myriad of unexpected problems. For this reason, the more clever the strategy, the more critical to conceal it. Be shrewd, reflect, plan, and distrust but keep your suspicions hidden. Blending this kind of foresighted planning with an inscrutable outward expression develops the most skillful and appropriate action.

46

When wisdom rules,
Horses manure fields instead of roads.
When the world lacks wisdom,
War horses are raised on the commons.

The greatest evil: always wanting more.
The biggest mistake: always chasing desires.
The cruelest curse: always getting what we want.

Only when we know what is enough
Will we always have enough.
To know enough’s enough
Is enough to know.

46

We often see our own unacknowledged inner imperfections in others and build dislikes and prejudices against people and experiences before we know anything true about them. When this fabricated aversion attaches itself to the good and noble, it degrades us in a similar but opposite way as the appreciation and respect for the good in others ennobles us.

47

Without leaving home
You can understand all that goes on in the world.
Without looking through a window,
You can see the universal patterns.
The farther you go,
The less you know.
The wise therefore
Don’t go but know,
Don’t look but see,
Don’t try but succeed.
The best way to do is to be.

47

Chains of cause and effect multiply from every action set in motion. The foolish see only the first link in this set, quickly commit, and get blindsided by the next-step consequences. The wise realize the distance and difficulty between taking on a new project and it becoming successful, take time to contemplate before acting, and avoid committing themselves unless they see a clear and valuable, multi-step process forward. Sometimes declining obligations requires more strength of character than accepting them. Rather than being led on by herd-instinct conformity, the prudent watch and let the fools rush in.

48

Those who seek learning
Grow larger every day.
Those who follow the Tao
Daily shrink.
They lose and they lose
Until they arrive at not-doing.

Nothing to do
Means nothing not done,
Nothing to fuss over,
No gaining ideas.

Those busy interfering,
Making a big deal out of everything
With their ambition and grasping
Are not fit to rule,
To run things,
To be in charge of anything.

48

Most of us have accepted a one-dimensional social mask and have practiced to perfection performing an externally imposed role. Like an unfinished house with an elaborate, palace-like exterior but shabby, dilapidated interior rooms; superficial personalities often glow while character and integrity steep in a murky darkness. They may fool the undiscerning with their surface facade but the clear-sighted easily see through the deceptions. Conversations start with cheery platitudes but quickly end in an uncomfortable silence. Words soon end when they have no contemplative wellspring. Instead, become a genuine person of substance with deeply rooted but hidden depths of thought, understanding, and realization.

49

The wise have no set mind of their own,
No goals or intensions.
They take the mind of the common people
As their own.
They’re kind to good people
And they’re kind to bad people
Until they become good.
They trust the true
And they trust the false
Until they become true.

With the world
They mix their minds,
With the world
They merge their lives.
People focus their eyes and ears
While sages only smile.

49

Don't let yourself become a victim of circumstance, of fate, of any person. Instead of lamenting, complaining, or projecting when difficulties arise, take responsibility and flow with, direct, and transform every experience with awareness. First impressions—frequently only based on a person’s acting skills or an advertiser's psychological understanding—almost always inflate, exaggerate, or skillfully lie. Instead of naively believing, the wise quickly see through the deception, perceive the hidden motivations and conflicts of interest. They reason based on reality and act based on insightful reasoning.

50

To look too hard for life
Is to find death.
3 out of 10 chase their passions,
3 out of 10 push away what they don’t like,
3 out of 10 ignore and sleep-walk.
These all hold on too hard to life.

Only 1 out of 10 understands how to live in ways
That they fear no weapons in battle,
That they cross wild lands without fear of danger.
Horns can find no place to gore,
Claws can find no place to tear,
Soldiers can find no place to thrust their swords.

They have nowhere in them for death to enter.

50

Be true to yourself and your own personal integrity rather than just following externally dictated rules. But keep that self-judgement pure with a higher standard than conventional morals and laws. Not because of looking for approval but for the sake of your own self-respect, avoid anything that diminishes this personal evaluation and dedication to goodness.