Line by Line - Verse 23, Line 3

a sudden rain does not last for the whole day.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Heavy rain does not last all day.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Sudden rain does not last all day
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

The wind and the rain don't last forever.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Just like a wind storm, a sudden deluge of rain eventually dissipates. It may pour like cats and dogs for the longest time, but, at some point, the rain will taper off.

And so it is with everything else in our lives. Whether we experience a fit of seething anger or a period of euphoric joy, our mood will normalize after a while.

All things return to the center.

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