Line by Line - Verse 12, Line 5

and objects rare and strange, sought for, men's conduct will to evil change.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Precious things lead one astray.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Goods that are difficult to acquire make one cause damage
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

The world messes with your mind.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

This line goes to straight to the heart of our craven desires. When our lives are all about material wants and sensuous pleasures, we lose sight of our most simple and basic needs. Our chief focus in life becomes the external and we neglect to nurture the internal.

Precious things -- be they objects, people or concepts -- represent a bottomless pit. No matter how much we amass, it's never enough. If we obtain one, we want two. If we go out and get four, we crave eight. If we collect one hundred, then two hundred must be better.

By constantly striving, we create tension and suffering. So we strive harder and the suffering only increases. The suffering only will end when we give up striving altogether and accept enough as sufficient.

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