Line by Line - Verse 49, Line 3

To those who are good (to me), I am good;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

I am good to people who are good.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Those who are good, I am good to them
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

They are good to good people,
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

It's really easy to be nice to those who are nice to us. It creates a loop of niceness and it makes all concerned feel good about themselves and the world around us.

But there is a danger here. We often take a somewhat passive role in this regard by merely reflecting back what is reflected at us. It works really well when others behave in nice and good ways, but what if they don't? Should we mirror their negativity or badness?

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