Tao Te Ching

The Power of Goodness, the Wisdom Beyond Words
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Showing 101-120 of 249 items.
Chapter NumberContent
51

All things arise from the Tao
And the Power of Goodness nourishes them
As their own being shapes them,
As their own energy completes them.
In this way, the 10,000 things
All hold the Tao Sacred
And follow the Power of Goodness.

Unforced and natural,
This reverence and devotion
Arises spontaneously
As the Way gives life and supports,
Mothers and trains,
Shelters and protects,
Comforts and completes.

Mysterious, hidden, and profound;
This highest goodness
Holds without possessing,
Succeeds without taking credit,
Leads without controlling.

51

Success in life depends on making good decisions but often even the most intelligent and highly educated continually make choices that undermine their own happiness, accomplishments, and goals. Not intelligence, experience, or education assure good judgments. To be able to choose at all requires an objective and clear self-awareness. To make good choices requires an experiential understanding of cause and effect, an appreciation for the power of goodness, and a dedication to virtue.

52

Everything has a common beginning,
The mother of all things.
By understanding the mother,
We understand the children.
And when we understand the children,
We naturally turn back to the mother
And as the body comes to its ending,
We remain with nothing to fear.

Block all the openings,
Close all the gates
And life will always be full.
Open everything up
Always distracted and busy
And you will live without help or hope.

Those who understand the insignificant have vision
Those who protect the weak have strength.
Those who use their outer sight
While trusting their insight
Live beyond death
Cultivating the changeless.

52

Don't let passions, moods, or sudden emotions throw you off balance into doing or saying embarrassing things you'll regret later. Strong feelings create passions that—if unchecked—can destroy reputations, undermine friendships, and sabotage our projects. Instead of getting angry or upset, cultivate a kind of equanimity that appreciates both when things go our way and when they don't: when we meet with success and when we meet with failure, when we're praised and when we're reviled.

53

Those with even a little sense
Walk the Way humbly
And arrogance is all they fear.
This way is smooth and straight
But people love their sidetracks.

When mansions are full of splendor;
Fields are full of weeds,
Farms are poor and wild,
And the granaries are empty.

These are the real robber barons,
The worst of lowly brigands
With the vanity of thieves:

People wearing wealth
With weapons at their side
Over-filled with food and drink
Hoarding what they do not need.

53

While fools often fail by rushing in too quickly, the wise often fail from too much deliberation. Haste without forethought, knowledge of the dangers, and preparation easily leads to failure. Too much hesitation and caution, however, can lead to procrastination and delay that misses opportunities and good fortune. Seizing quickly-passing opportunities often requires prompt judgment. Leaving nothing for tomorrow, mix diligence with intelligence and seize the day.

54

Well planted is not easily uprooted,
Well taken care of is not easily taken away
And will be honored from generation to generation.

Cultivated in yourself, goodness becomes real.
Cultivated in your family it grows,
Cultivated in your village it multiplies,
Cultivated in your country it flourishes,
Cultivated in the world it brings goodness everywhere.

We understand others through understanding ourselves,
Other families through understanding our own family,
Other communities through understanding our own community,
Other countries through understanding our own country.

How do we know this is true?
By seeing into our own experience.

54

When we suppress our insight into the best response to a given situation because of a reluctance to create conflict, we compromise our integrity and only delay and amplify the difficult moments. For bees to make honey, they need to rely on their stingers for protection. Moral courage goes far beyond just physical courage while moral cowardice degrades much more than physical weakness. Because of this reluctance to say what needs to be said and do what needs to be done, many otherwise intelligent and talented people live empty lives of meaningless boredom cocooned in their cowardice.

55

Those steeped in goodness
Are like a newborn baby,
The eternal beginning, the life-bringing source:

Insects don’t sting,
Wild animals don’t attack.
They have weak muscles and soft bones
But a strong and firm grip.
They don’t know anything about sex
But their sexual organs still swell.
Full of true essence in balanced harmony,
They can cry all day without getting hoarse.
With perfectly balanced breath,
They live at endless ease with everything.

Knowing this harmony,
They understand the eternal.
Understanding the eternal,
They become wise.

The foolish though rush about,
Straining and trying to control
Exhausting their vital breath
Leading to rigidity and decay.

55

"Time and I Against Any Two"
Accomplishments quickly and easily gained normally have shallow roots, easily reverse, and mean little. Lasting, meaningful achievements build up little by little over long periods of time. Master yourself first by never rushing or letting excitement unleash passions that lead to ill-considered decisions. Thoughtful and strategic patience actualizes opportunity while haste falls far short. By patiently navigating the maze of time we avoid unforeseen pitfalls and slowly build success. The best idea attempted at the wrong time fails while composed, even-tempered waiting recognizes the unique moment for the most advantageous action.

56

Those who know don’t tell,
Those who tell don’t know.

By watching what you say,
By not having rough edges to catch,
By keeping it simple and unconfused,
Become one with the dust of the way
And realize the deep sameness of One Taste.

Then you will stop being controlled
By love and rejection,
By profit and loss,
By praise and humiliation,
By fame and fortune,
By pleasure and power
And you will stabilize the highest realization.

56

Clear insight arising from awareness avoids danger and accomplishes even the most difficult of tasks. This kind of confidence transcends reason, quickly finds solutions and the most appropriate response to even complicated and confusing dilemmas. Too much thought however can dissipate intuition and lead to deeds based on theory instead of the immediate experience. Reflection that uses but doesn't depend on thinking takes advantage of momentary uniqueness, acts at the best time, and often succeeds without effort.

57

Use conventional wisdom to rule a country,
Use deception to win a war
But only non-action, not meddling, letting go, doing nothing …
Will win your world.

See how this is true by watching how:
The more laws and prohibitions,
The poorer the people;
The more experts,
The more confusion;
The more weapons,
The more trouble;
The more clever the schemes,
The more people lose;
The louder the call for law and order,
The more thieves and con artists.

For these reasons wise leaders
Don’t meddle and the people transform themselves;
Don’t preach and the people naturally improve themselves;
Don’t create new economic schemes and the people prosper on their own;
Don’t chase ambitious goals and the people return to a good and simple life.

57

Though many may secretly believe in and search for various kinds of "free lunch," in the real world, success only arises from thoughtful preparation, careful attention, and diligent, hard work. Successful projects finish on time if done well. Don't sacrifice quality for an early completion.

58

The less a leader does and says,
The happier the people.
The more a leader struts and controls,
The more discontent.

Misery lurks under good fortune,
Happiness hides under misery.
Since nothing is certain,
Who knows what the future holds?

Happiness and misery alternate like the seasons:
Honesty becomes deception,
The fortunate becomes unfortunate,
The ominous becomes auspicious
And our bewilderment goes on and on.

And so the wise become:
An edge that doesn’t cut,
A point that doesn’t pierce,
A line that doesn’t extend,
A light that doesn’t shine.

58

Less but more frequent goes much further than dumping everything at once onto a situation. Capacities for understanding differ and when we give someone too much too soon, eyes glaze over and—instead of being impressed—people can become confused and even resentful. Momentum means everything and it requires regular refueling. Too much on display today means not enough for tomorrow. Instead, pace yourself, never do more than enough, waste not knowledge or resource, and always keep something new in reserve.

59

In looking after yourself
And caring for others,
Nothing surpasses the gardening of spirit.

Gathered early, this power doubles
And prevents any reckless use of mind.
It brings freedom from our own ideas
And the knowing of what to accept, what to reject.
It overcomes all obstacles,
Reaches invisible heights,
And has no limits.

Firmly planted and deeply rooted in the Tao,
It shows the way to a deep life with eternal vision.

59

Don’t let the success of a moment distract you from the steps toward a happy completion. Most often, a fortuitous beginning degenerates into a tragic ending; ventures begin with high-flying exuberance but end in disillusionment and failure. Or they begin with great difficulty and suffering but end with a contented accomplishment. History judges few worthy of an encore because most let temporary successes corrupt them away from their focus on the goals of integrity. Care less about how you look and how people regarded you during the process, more about if and how you can cross the finish line.

60

Manage a big project
With the same care and attention
As cooking a small fish.

Always follow the Tao
And evil loses strength,
Outside nothing troubles,
Inside, nothing frightens,
Obstacles lose power
And transform into opportunity.

60

Decision-making and sound judgment based on careful reasoning brings us halfway to success. Some—born with this natural advantage—avoiding everything frivolous, prejudicial, and lacking forethought, rise high in social, organizational, and political influence. Their innate common sense takes them to respected and deserved positions of leadership.