A truly good man is not
aware of his goodness, And is therefore good. A foolish man tries to be
good, And is therefore not good.
A truly good man does
nothing, Yet leaves nothing undone. A foolish man is always
doing, Yet much remains to be done.
When a truly kind man does
something, he leaves nothing undone. When a just man does
something, he leaves a great deal to be done. When a disciplinarian does
something and no one responds, He rolls up his sleeves in
an attempt to enforce order.
Therefore when Tao is lost,
there is goodness. When goodness is lost, there
is kindness. When kindness is lost, there
is justice. When justice is lost, there is ritual. Now ritual is the husk of
faith and loyalty, the beginning of confusion. Knowledge of the future is
only a flowery trapping of the Tao. It is the beginning of folly.
Tao,
Chapter 38 (Feng and English translation) |