In my continuing experimentation with the Tao Te Ching, here's a draft rendering of the second chapter:
When the world knows what is beautiful
Only as the beautiful
What's ugly comes to be
When the world knows what is good
Only as the good
What's evil comes to be
What-is gives birth to what-is-not
What-is-not gives birth to what-is
Hard completes easy, easy completes hard
Long measures short, short measures long
High supports low, low supports high
Music tunes voice, voice tunes music
Front follows back, back follows front
Therefore the sages
Work without doing
Teach without talking
Gain mastery without commanding
Create without possessing
Act without contending
Succeed without flaunting
Thus their success is everlasting
The poem begins by hinting at the dangers of deifying those who are good and beautiful (the kind of people whom the ancient Greeks called the kalokagathoi): if you insist on seeing only the good in someone (say, the ruler of your country) then you won't be open to clear-eyed perception (say, legitimate questioning of authority). This idea is generalized and extended into some profound paradoxes that are well worth contemplating in their bidirectional glory. And, as always, Lao Tzu brings it all back to practical insights that point toward a more sagacious way of life...
(Cross-posted at philosopher.coach.)
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