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Sunday, May 29, 2011

Line by Line - Verse 31, Line 10

and he who delights in the slaughter of men cannot get his will in the kingdom.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

If you delight in killing, you cannot fulfill yourself.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Those who delight in killing
Cannot achieve their ambitions upon the world

~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

A person who would rejoice in killing
has lost touch completely with Tao.

~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
How can a person who supports war equally embrace peace? One is about destroying life, while the other is about protecting it. When a person says they support both or that the former leads to the latter, the contradictions inherent tear the argument apart.

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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