Line by Line - Verse 78, Lines 6-7

but no one is able to carry it out in practice.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Under heaven everyone knows this,
Yet no one puts it into practice.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Everybody in the world knows
But cannot put into practice
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Everybody knows it.
So why don't we apply it to our own lives?
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

It's weird how people revere the great teachers and sages of this world precisely because they embody the point Lao Tzu makes, yet so few of us try to emulate them! We say that their ability to exude compassion and peace is what made them so great, but we eschew the very same qualities in our own lives.

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