Tao Te Ching: Eighty { Philosophy Index }

Philosophy Index

Philosophy Index

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Lao Tzu

Tao Te Ching

Eighty

In a little state with a small population, I would so order it,
that, though there were individuals with the abilities of ten or a hundred men, there should be no employment of them;
I would make the people, while looking on death as a grievous thing,
yet not remove elsewhere (to avoid it).

Though they had boats and carriages, they should have no occasion to ride in them;
though they had buff coats and sharp weapons, they should have no occasion to don or use them.

I would make the people return to the use of knotted cords (instead of the written characters).

They should think their (coarse) food sweet;
their (plain) clothes beautiful; their (poor) dwellings places of rest;
and their common (simple) ways sources of enjoyment.

Though their neighbours live within sight,
and the fowls and dogs are heard from there to us,
They leave each other alone as they grow old, even to death.

Details

Title: Tao Te Ching
(Dao De Jing or Daodejing)
Written: ~6th Century BCE
Author: Lao Tzu
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