Line by Line - Verse 81, Line 5

Those who know (the Tao) are not extensively learned;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Those who know are not learned.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Those who know are not broad of knowledge
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Educated people aren't always smart.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

In our society, we place a great deal of emphasis on book learning. Earn a college degree and the statistics will tell us that you'll earn far more in a lifetime than someone with less formal education.

But there are scores of people in this country who have degrees, certificates, awards and what not who, when it comes to commonsense, are raving imbeciles!! They couldn't think their way out of a paper sack even if there was a big arrow pointing to a wide opening!!

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