Taoist Philosophy

[Marblehead]

The man of superior character

Is not conscious of his character,

Hence he has Character.

The man of inferior character

Is intent on not losing his character,

Hence he is devoid of Character.

 

So therefore,

The Great Man dwells in the thick and 'not in the thin;

Dwells in the fruit and not in the flower.

He rejects that and takes this.

 

The man of superior virtue never acts,

And yet there is nothing he leaves undone.

The man of inferior virtue wants to act,

But he is apt to leave things undone.

The man of superior humanheartedness wants to act,

But finds no particular occasion for acting.

The man of superior righteousness wants to act,

But finds no particular reason for acting.

The man of the rites acts,

But meeting with no response,

Rolls up his sleeves

And resorts to persuasion by force.

[Mal]

I found a translations with 'The man of the rites "wants to" act'. But then other trans worded similar to above. (Translations there are so many of them)

 

When the Tao is lost, there is goodness.

When goodness is lost, there is morality.

When morality is lost, there is ritual.

Ritual is the husk of true faith,

the beginning of chaos.

 

Isn't it a shame that so much modern government is hiding behind ritual. "That is the way it is done. Look I followed the correct procedure, so you can't blame me"

 

(I hope your selection of humpbacks are looking more promising than ours )

[Marblehead]

I found a translations with 'The man of the rites "wants to" act'. But then other trans worded similar to above. (Translations there are so many of them)

 

When the Tao is lost, there is goodness.

When goodness is lost, there is morality.

When morality is lost, there is ritual.

Ritual is the husk of true faith,

the beginning of chaos.

 

Isn't it a shame that so much modern government is hiding behind ritual. "That is the way it is done. Look I followed the correct procedure, so you can't blame me"

 

(I hope your selection of humpbacks are looking more promising than ours )

 

 

Yeah, there are many, many translations of the TTC. In my early years of reading I found that one must be careful when reading various translations because you can plainly see where there are Christian as well as Buddhist influences in the translations.

 

The Chinese characters allow for a wide variety of selectable words and many translators allow their personal biases to influence which words they are going to use.

 

Ah! My humpbacks. Not much of a selection but I do need to vote in the primaries this year and vote against a known crook. We already have enough of them.

 

Peace & Love!