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1. If I were suddenly to become known, and (put into a position to) conduct (a government) according to the Great Tao, what I should be most afraid of would be a boastful display. 2. The great Tao (or way) is very level and easy; but people love the by-ways. 3. Their court(-yards and buildings) shall be well kept, but their fields shall be ill-cultivated, and their granaries very empty. They shall wear elegant and ornamented robes, carry a sharp sword at their girdle, pamper themselves in eating and drinking, and have a superabundance of property and wealth;—such (princes) may be called robbers and boasters. This is contrary to the Tao surely!
1. If I were suddenly to become known, and (put into a position to) conduct (a government) according to the Great Tao, what I should be most afraid of would be a boastful display. 2. The great Tao (or way) is very level and easy; but people love the by-ways. 3. Their court(-yards and buildings) shall be well kept, but their fields shall be ill-cultivated, and their granaries very empty. They shall wear elegant and ornamented robes, carry a sharp sword at their girdle, pamper themselves in eating and drinking, and have a superabundance of property and wealth;—such (princes) may be called robbers and boasters. This is contrary to the Tao surely!
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- Author or tradition
- Laozi (traditional attribution)
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- The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and its Characteristics (James Legge English translation)
Complete printed chapter 53; James Legge translation; Undated digitized James Legge English edition; printed publication year/publisher not supplied in this cached text
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The voice behind the words.
Traditional attribution of the Tao Teh King, represented here by complete numbered chapters in James Legge’s English translation. Historical identity, authorship and dates are disputed; no lifetime or composition year is assigned. Read within the transmitted text, rather than treating traditional attribution as independent verification.
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