Line by Line - Verse 41, Line 3

Scholars of the lowest class, when they have heard about it, laugh greatly at it.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

The foolish student hears of the Tao and laughs aloud.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Lower people hear of the Tao
They laugh loudly at it
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

When a fool hears about Tao,
he just laughs and laughs.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

The other type of students I encountered in college were the ones who had a "Who gives a shit?" attitude. They studied when they felt like it which, evidently, wasn't very often! They sat in class doodling and, when called upon, said nothing or mumbled incoherently.

Their purpose for attending college was to p-a-r-t-y! (At today's prices, that's a damn expensive party!) When they graduated -- IF they graduated at all -- it turns out that they hadn't gained much in the way of theoretical OR practical knowledge.

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