Saturday, April 14, 2012

Line by Line - Verse 64, Line 18

and does not prize things difficult to get;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

He does not collect precious things.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

They do not value goods that are hard to acquire
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

They don't collect precious things.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
It should go without saying that it is the desire for and possession of things that humans value that leads to envy and covetousness. When some people have and others have not, it is a given that the latter will be envious of the former.

If we look at the entirety of human history, most of the wars and tribulations of our species are a constant battle between the haves and the have nots.

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

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