Monday, August 20, 2012

Line by Line - Verse 81, Line 2

fine words are not sincere.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Beautiful words are not truthful.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Beautiful words are not true
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Flashy words aren't true.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
Though I often don't favor the Legge translation over the others, I think he hits the nail on the head in regards to this line. When we dress up the truth, we are not being sincere.

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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