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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Line by Line - Verse 34, Line 9

--it may be named in the greatest things.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

It is very great.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

It can be named great
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Pretty impressive, huh?
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
great
adj. great·er, great·est
1. Very large in size.
2. Larger in size than others of the same kind.
3. Large in quantity or number: A great throng awaited us. See Synonyms at large.
4. Extensive in time or distance: a great delay.
5. Remarkable or outstanding in magnitude, degree, or extent: a great crisis.
6. Of outstanding significance or importance: a great work of art.
7. Chief or principal: the great house on the estate.
8. Superior in quality or character; noble: "For he was great, ere fortune made him so" (John Dryden).
9. Powerful; influential: one of the great nations of the West.
10. Eminent; distinguished: a great leader.
11. Grand; aristocratic.
12. Informal Enthusiastic: a great lover of music.
13. Informal Very skillful: great at algebra.
14. Informal Very good; first-rate: We had a great time at the dance.

Whatever it is that makes life possible, it certainly meets most, if not all, of these definitions!

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.

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