Line by Line - Verse 23, Lines 15-16

those with whom he agrees as to its manifestation have the happiness of attaining to it;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

When you are at one with Virtue,
The Virtue is always there.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Those who are with virtue, virtue is also pleased to have them
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

(No corresponding line)
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

For me, these lines can be summed up in the phrase, walking the talk. And it really isn't about what we say either.

So often, we each say that we have some bedrock principles that we would never, ever breach. Sooner or later, a situation presents itself in which we quickly abandon those very principles. We rationalize to ourselves and others that there are special mitigating circumstances and that we really aren't guilty of NOT walking our talk. Deep down, we know that it is nothing more than a big load of crap!

The sage doesn't need to conceptualize such principles; she lives them. She is virtuous not because it makes her look good to others or to satisfy her own self-image. No, she is virtuous because that is the way of Tao.

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