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Chapter Number | Content |
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2 | Happiness requires a middle way path that includes both mind and spirit, intellect and feeling, strategy and emotion, reason and intuition, character and practical action. One without the other only creates unhappiness and failure. |
5 | Heaven and Earth aren’t humane |
7 | Heaven is eternal and earth will endure |
13 | Honor and disgrace only trap and confuse us. Believing in a separate self |
79 | If the resolution of a conflict |
9 | If you don’t stop pouring, Fame, fortune, pleasure and power |
24 | Imagination can bring contentment, make happiness possible, and balance reason. It can also tyrannize and dominate our lives, burden our mind and body by leading us to folly in blissful delusion. For some, it exaggerates dangers and prevents action; for others, it spurs on foolish action by promising unrealistic adventure and happiness. For these reasons, understanding and influencing our imaginations with prudent self-control remains essential for a good life. Sometimes we need to hold it in check, other times better to galvanize and encourage. |
80 | Imagine a small country without many people. Mindful of death and appreciating where they are, They savor their food, |
10 | In being who and what you are, |
103 | In every thought and action, maintain an authentic integrity. At all times hold fast to the highest principles, acting how you would hope and expect for a prince or the officials with the most responsibility and power. Much more than position and birth, this unswerving dedication to the good defines a true leader. For those in power, disregard vanity and pomp but hold firm to the highest standards of virtue. |
79 | In excess a vice, in timely moderation a virtue; jovial humor can either degrade integrity or add a pleasant spice to situations. Often the encounters most beneficially taken lightly are the same ones most take too seriously. The wise join in the fun to an extent but never go beyond the boundaries of decorum, rectitude, or decency. Humorous wit can extract us from difficult, socially dangerous encounters as well as amplify the good feelings arising from positive experience. The wise use it judiciously. |
59 | In looking after yourself Gathered early, this power doubles Firmly planted and deeply rooted in the Tao, |
127 | In our quests for success; forbidden, cruel weapons and techniques may give a temporary advantage but the honorable do not use them. We may not be able to avoid conflict in life but we can avoid meanness and hatred. When we respond to an enemy's attack with malice, we let them control us and win on the reputation front if not the physical one. Using a confidence from old friendships turned into enemies displays a kind of treason that destroys honor and prevents trust and respect. Victories gained with great costs to our character and self-respect quickly become embarrassing failures. The wise win not only in external ways but also on the psychological fronts. |
25 | In the distant past, straightforward contemplation of communications may have sufficed; but today, lies, deception, half-truths, and proliferating scams dominate the culture. To avoid these traps, we must learn to see more deeply than the status quo surface and become psychic and material event forecasters. In terms of self-evaluation and feedback, be slow and skeptical to accept good news and positive comments; welcoming and open to criticism and unfavorable opinion. |
67 | In this second, not-typical, probably inserted chapter; power and prestige-seeking is again glorified: |
90 | Inner integrity colors our experience, our health, even our bodies. Holding fast to a strong strength of purpose filled with virtue, honesty, and wisdom sustains longevity and supports a full and rewarding life. In a similar but opposite way, vice becomes its own punishment undermining health and shortening our years. Foolish, corrupt, and selfish action destroys our sense of purpose and hastens the death of both body and spirit. |
82 | Integrity grows from the discipline of warding off extremes. Even the most commendable virtue becomes a vice when it goes too far. If you squeeze an orange too much, the juice becomes bitter. Best to stop before drinking the dregs, expanding a theory ad absurdum, bloating enjoyment to decadence, over-pursuing justice until it becomes injustice, indulging pleasure until it becomes pain, milking a cow until it bleeds. |
127 | Intelligence sees the flaws most miss. It understands the problems and shortcomings in the most popular and enthusiastic endeavors, ideas, and personalities. The uncensored pointing out of these failings, however, only displays a foolish ignorance. It turns allies into enemies, pleasant conversations into contentious skirmishes, smooth-running projects into resentment-generating disasters. Keeping insight into unacknowledged issues private increases skillfulness while too freely expressing them undermines success. |
28 | It is great and wise to be ill at ease when your deeds please the mob. When popular with the mob of public opinion, be concerned and more careful. Pleasing the gods of popular approval most often reflects a decrease of integrity. Don't be satisfied with empty and fickle praise which has no depth or intelligence and can abruptly change. The larger the crowd, the more admiration for foolish delusions. And so, don't follow the herd in anything, be common in nothing; and instead, watch for deception. |
89 | It's easy to see our outer image and qualities but much more important to see clearly our inner selves—our talents, passions, short comings, inclinations, character flaws, intellect, our levels of understanding and wisdom. Without an undistorted view of who and what we really are, we can't improve ourselves, our families, our communities, or the world. By default, most of us fall into the arrogance of self-deception, the distortions of projection, and the delusions of ego-centrism. Forging a mirror that reflects our true qualities requires deeply honest self-reflection, a brave resolve, and careful consideration. |