Line by Line - Verse 57, Lines 10-11

the more acts of crafty dexterity that men possess, the more do strange contrivances appear;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

The more ingenious and clever men are,
The more strange things happen.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

When people have many clever tricks
More strange things occur
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

When its leaders try
to be cunning and clever,
the situation spins
further out of control.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Again, the US offers a clear example of the message in these two lines.

Our leaders tell us over and over again that they stand for fairness and justice, yet they always seem to find a way to let corporate criminals off the hook. They devise clever schemes to make it appear they are clamping down on those who have brought the world near financial ruin, but instead of punishing the wrongdoers, they open the vault of taxpayer funds and lavish it on the very people who need it the least.

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