Line by Line - Verse 38, Line 13

Thus it was that when the Tao was lost, its attributes appeared;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Therefore when Tao is lost, there is goodness.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Therefore, the Tao is lost, and then virtue
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

If you're not in touch with Tao,
at least you can still have integrity.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

At first blush, this line seems rather quixotic and contradictory. It makes attributes like goodness and virtue sound less than the ideal.

The point I think that Lao Tzu is trying to get across is that trying to conform to standards of goodness or virtue takes concerted effort. We have to make a value judgment about a given situation and then we have to try to figure out what we believe the proper response is.

This formulation flies in the face of wu wei, effortless action. The sage doesn't weigh options and perform human calculus. As I've written before, he confront situations dispassionately and then moves to do what needs to be done without any sort of agenda.

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