Line by Line - Verse 28, Lines 10-11

Displayed in view of all beneath the sky;
He in the unchanging excellence arrayed,
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Being an example to the world,
Ever true and unwavering,
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Being the standard of the world
The eternal virtue does not deviate
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Set that example,
and you'll always be right with Tao:
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

One of the great differences between telling people how you have the secrets of life all figured out and simply living your life in a sagacious manner is that the former requires you to a) remember the various things you tell people and b) try to insure these various statements don't contradict each other.

In this age of cell phones, other recording devices and YouTube, people can often track almost everything that is said. How many times recently has a politician or celebrity said something of significance or importance that directly contradicts something they said weeks, months or years ago? With egg on their face, they are forced to do a little jig to try to explain the discrepancy.

The sage of few words doesn't find herself having to go through all these histrionics. Wisdom has taught her to live simply and humbly. She knows her actions always speak louder than words.

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