Line by Line - Verse 41, Line 12

Its firmest virtue seems but poor and low;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

The strength of Virtue seems frail;
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

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

The greatest strength
looks like weakness.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Following up on yesterday's entry, when we don't spend our energy beating our own drum -- self-promotion -- we come off as being weak. Our society values the go-getter, the type of person that runs over others to claim the prize!

It's an adversarial system. We are in competition with each other and the pearls go to those who will reach out to snatch them.

Those that refuse to play this game -- to seek community and consensus rather than individuality and competition -- are considered frail and pathetic losers.

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