Tao Te Ching: Chapter 56

Updated May 14, 2020 | Infoplease Staff
Daodejing (Tao Te Ching) by Laozi, trans. James Legge
Chapter 55
Chapter 57

Chapter 56

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.

 
.com/t/phil/tao-te-ching/2/19.html
.com/t/lit/celtic-twilight/2/19.html
Sources +