Line by Line - Verse 62, Line 5

Even men who are not good are not abandoned by it.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

If a man is bad, do not abandon him.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Those who are unkind
How can they be abandoned?
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

But Tao is available to everyone,
not just the powerful.
So don't look down on anybody.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

For me, one reason that we should not look down on or abandon a "bad" person is that we can be bad people too. No one is completely good or bad; we each are mixtures of both. There are times when we act selflessly and there are other times when we act selfishly.

No matter how good or virtuous we are, in certain circumstances, we might find ourselves in the company of others who are far more virtuous. In their eyes, we are the "bad" ones. Conversely, no matter how bad or selfish we are, in certain circumstances, we might find ourselves in the company of others who are more selfish than we are. In their eyes, we are the "good" ones.

At any given moment, we can be viewed as "bad" or "good." So, who are we to judge another?

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