Line by Line - Verse 72, Line 2

Let them not thoughtlessly indulge themselves in their ordinary life;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Do not intrude in their homes.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Do not limit their place
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Don't try to fence people in or grind them down.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Every one of us has an area we call personal space. (As an Aspie, my personal space is much more expansive than the average person's.) We sometimes invite others into this special realm, but most of us bristle when someone comes charging in uninvited!

When this happens, it's not uncommon that we forcefully try to throw them out. Some people become overly defensive, while others become overly aggressive. We cast whatever virtue we might possess to the side and, like a dog violently scratching at fleas, we try to repel the invader.

And yet, as much as we don't like for others to invade OUR personal space, we have no problem with invading theirs, if we feel this action is needed to satisfy our unmitigated desires.

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