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Taoism

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 56

Text

1

He who knows (the Tao) does not (care to) speak (about it); he who is (ever ready to) speak about it does not know it.

2

He (who knows it) will keep his mouth shut and close the portals (of his nostrils). He will blunt his sharp points and unravel the complications of things; he will attemper his brightness, and bring himself into agreement with the obscurity (of others). This is called 'the Mysterious Agreement.'

3

(Such an one) cannot be treated familiarly or distantly; he is beyond all consideration of profit or injury; of nobility or meanness:--he is the noblest man under heaven.

Translation: James Legge, The Tao Teh King (Sacred Books of the East, 1891), public domain.

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 56: Read Free Online