Line by Line - Verse 38, Lines 7-8

(Those who) possessed them in a lower degree were (always) doing, and had need to be so doing.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

A foolish man is always doing,
Yet much remains to be done.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Low virtue takes contrived action
And acts with agenda
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Other people are always busy
doing something,
but nothing ever gets done.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

How often do each of us get caught up in wanting to do things "our way" even when our way is not the best way? We become so attached to our own ego-driven ideas that the outcome or resolution to the situation is of less importance than trying to prove that we are right.

I often refer to this as the Messiah complex. We are so enthralled with our self-defined sagacity that we frequently refuse to see the forest for the trees!

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