Line by Line - Verse 22, Lines 19-20

That saying of the ancients that 'the partial becomes complete' was not vainly spoken:
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Therefore the ancients say, "Yield and overcome."
Is that an empty saying?
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

What the ancients called "the one who yields and remains whole"
Were they speaking empty words?
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

"Learn how to stand still if you want to go places."
That's not as crazy as it sounds.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Think of busy urban intersections. If you constantly force your vehicle into traffic, whether there is an opening or not, you cause other drivers to slam on their brakes, speed up and/or swerve. It often will cause you to be tense and on edge. In time, you or other drivers may become enraged and you or others might "flip off" another driver because the preferred path has been impeded.

However, when we choose to yield to the other insane drivers on the road and to move into traffic at natural openings, there is a lot less tension involved. Because we are less stressed, we are more able to see other openings that will allow us to get where we need to go.

In this simple everyday example, we can learn the value of "going with the flow."

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