Line by Line - Verse 65, Line 3

The difficulty in governing the people
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Why is it so hard to rule?
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

The difficulty in governing people
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

[No corresponding line]
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Why is it so difficult to rule others? Because we each have trouble ruling ourselves!

We do things that we know potentially are injurious, even while we try to convince ourselves otherwise.

We say things that wound others, even while we are telling ourselves to shut up.

We get anxious about what the future may portend, even while we tell ourselves that the future will take care of itself.

We create stress upon stress, even when we know intuitively that there is less stress when we go with the flow of life.

The individual who we should have the most control over is ourselves, yet this control eludes us time and time again.

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