The Tao Te Ching : A Modern Translation
Verse 12
Colors make people’s eyes go blind,
Music makes people’s ears go deaf,
Flavors make people’s palates jaded,
The chase and the hunt make people’s minds go wild.
Hard to get goods make people’s actions injurious.
Therefore the wise work for the guts, not for the eyes;
so they leave the latter and take the former.
(This is one of those verses that, in most translations, don't seem to make a lot of sense right off. Those keep using the five colors, the five notes and so on. This one drops the number five and it makes more sense that way.)
Verse 18
When the Great Way is abandoned,
there is decency and duty.
When intellect stands out,
there is tremendous artificiality.
When relatives don’t get along,
there is respect and kindness.
(Verse 18, more typical translation.)
When the great way falls into disuse
There are benevolence and rectitude;
When cleverness emerges
There is great hypocrisy;
When the six relations are at variance
There are filial children.
When the state is benighted
There are loyal ministers.
(To me, the first version is a little easier to understand.)
Verse 49
Wise leaders have no fixed mentality; they make the minds of the people their minds:
“The good, I consider good; those who are not good, I will also improve”— this rewards virtue.
“The trustworthy, I trust; as for the unreliable, I still have faith in them”— this rewards faith.
Wise leaders are very reserved in the world; for the sake of the world they unify their minds:
the people all pour into their eyes and ears, and wise leaders smile innocently at them all.
(I like this version better than most versions. As far as those who are not good goes, this translation says that the person will try to improve them which makes more sense then to just leave them as they are and yes, that's not the true Taoist way but it's a way that, to me, makes sense.)
Verse 50, partial
Emerging into life, submerging into death, followers of life are three in ten,
followers of death are three in ten,
and deadly grounds on which people live and act are also three in ten.
(This is something I've wondered about all translations of this portion of this version. Notice they all refer to 'three out of ten.' Now, unless there is some new version of math working, then something doesn't seem quite right. 3 + 3 + 3 =9, not 10. So, what's happened to the one that is not added in?)
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