Line by Line - Verse 58, Line 13

(like) a corner which injures no one (with its sharpness).
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Pointed but not piercing,
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Incorruptible without being piercing
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

They are austere,
but never judgmental.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

There is a fine line between not backing down and moving forward aggressively. As I mentioned in yesterday's post in this series, I have had a lot of difficulty with that line! It is very easy to confuse standing your ground with being offensive simply because the philosophical ground under our feet is always shifting.

A lot of people have trouble with this as well. So often, when you or I stand up for what we believe in, it is juxtaposed against what we do not believe in. What we do not believe in, most often, is a position or perspective that someone else does believe in. Consequently, even when a person is trying to be deft and tactful, it can still come off as piercing to others.

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