Wen Tzu - Verse 74, Part II

from Verse Seventy-Four

If you are in a superior position, don't be proud of your success; if you are in a subordinate position, don't be ashamed of your problems. If you are wealthy, don't be arrogant; if you are poor, don't steal. Always keep impartial universal love and do not let it fade. This is called humaneness.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

No matter how rich or poor a person is, there will always be someone else who is richer or poorer. In essence, we are each rich and poor simultaneously. So, this passage speaks to each of us in its entirety.

When we adopt extreme attitudes and behaviors, we create friction, stress and resentments with others. These feelings poison our relations and create classes and/or castes. It also leads to competition and, sometimes, violence of various intensities.

By staying centered, we create no friction and our relations are, thereby, not poisoned.

This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.