36th Verse

Should you want to contain something,
you must deliberately let it expand.
Should you want to weaken something,
you must deliberately let it grow strong.
Should you want to eliminate something,
you must deliberately allow it to flourish.
Should you want to take something away,
you must deliberately grant it access.

The lesson here is called
the wisdom of obscurity.
The gentle outlasts the strong.
The obscure outlasts the obvious.

Fish cannot leave deep waters,
and a country's weapons should
not be displayed.

~Lao Tzu
Tao Te Ching

Living the Wisdom of the Tao
by Dr. Wayne Dyer
Published by Hay House

38th Verse

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.

The master does nothing,
yet he leaves nothing undone.
The ordinary man is always doing things,
yet many more are left to be done.

The highest virtue is to act without a sense of self.
The highest kindness is to give without condition.
The highest justice is to see without preference.

When the Tao is lost, there is goodness.
When goodness is lost there is morality.
When morality is lost there is ritual.
Ritual is the husk of true faith,
the beginning of chaos.

The great master follows his own nature
and not the trappings of life.

It is said:
"He stays with the fruit and not the fluff."
"He stays with the firm and not the flimsy."
"He stays with the true and not the false."

~Lao Tzu
Tao Te Ching

Living the Wisdom of the Tao
by Dr. Wayne Dyer
Published by Hay House

40th Verse

Returning is the motion of the Tao.
Yielding is the way of the Tao.
The 10,000 things are born of being.
Being is born of nonbeing.

~Lao Tzu
Tao Te Ching

Living the Wisdom of the Tao
by Dr. Wayne Dyer
Published by Hay House