Line by Line - Verse 38, Lines 11-12

(Those who) possessed the highest (sense of) propriety were (always seeking) to show it, and when men did not respond to it, they bared the arm and marched up to them.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

When a disciplinarian does something and no one responds,
He rolls up his sleeves in an attempt to enforce order.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

High etiquette takes contrived action
And upon encountering no response
Uses arms to pull others
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

But when the righteous act,
and nobody reacts,
they try to force everyone
to do things their way.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

What is it that most of us fall back on when persuasion alone doesn't work? We try to force the outcome of a situation to match our will and desire. We justify our use of force because we think we always "know what's best!"

Of course, what we think we know is not always that which is best. Forcing an outcome often leads to unintended consequences. More importantly, when we force a particular outcome, we change the dynamics of the situation into one that is contrived.

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