Line by Line - Verse 41, Line 11

And he has most whose lot the least supplies.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

A wealth of Virtue seems inadequate;
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Encompassing virtue appears insufficient
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

The deepest thoughts appear shallow.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

People who think a lot of themselves exude arrogance. It permeates whatever space they occupy. While we say that arrogance is a vice, we often wish that we could exhibit the same degree of complete self-confidence because of its robustness. Yes, the arrogant person can be quite annoying, but they tend to get what they want and who among us doesn't wish that their ego-based desires would always be satisfied?

The humble person stands in the background -- they don't stick out. They seem to lack ambition and you never see them out promoting themselves. As a result, they lack this sense of robustness that our society, unfortunately, idolizes!

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