Line by Line - Verse 30, Lines 8-9

He will strike the blow, but will be on his guard against being vain or boastful or arrogant in consequence of it.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Achieve results,
But never glory in them.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Achieves result but does not brag
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Get the job done and don't brag about it afterwards.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

No one likes to be around a braggart!! When a person brags or boasts about their abilities, skills and knowledge, it is a backhanded way of putting others down. It is a way of shining the spotlight on themselves which often moves that light off of the people who really deserve it.

Some may argue that, in our competitive dog-eat-dog world, self-promotion is a necessary evil. While this may be true, I would posit that braggarts have helped to create our adversarial system. If we would each forgo vanity and unfettered self-promotion, then cooperation and community, not competition, would rule the day.

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