Chapter 38
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Chapter 38
Eminent action is inaction,
For that action it is active.
Inferior action never stops acting,
For that reason it is inactive.
Eminent action is disengaged,
Yet nothing is left unfulfilled;
Eminent humanness engages,
Yet nothing is left unfulfilled;
When eminent righteousness engages,
It reduces the results of engagements;
Eminent justice engages, but does not respond adequately to situations.
For that reason it is frustrated.
When Tao is lost,
It becomes Action;
When Action is lost,
It becomes benevolence;
When benevolence is lost,
It becomes justice.
When justice is lost,
It becomes propriety.
Propriety is the veneer of faith and loyalty,
And the forefront of troubles.
Foresight is the vain display of Tao,
And the forefront of foolishness.
Therefore, the man of substance
Dwells in wholeness rather than veneer,
Dwells in the essence rather than the vain display.
He rejects the latter, and accepts the former.
