When the great man learns the Way, he follows it with diligence; When the common man learns the Way, he follows it on occasion; When the mean man learns the Way, he laughs out loud; Those who do not laugh, do not learn at all.
Therefore it is said: Who understands the Way seems foolish; Who progresses on the Way seems to fail; Who follows the Way seems to wander.
For the finest harmony appears plain; The brightest truth appears coloured; The richest character appears incomplete; The bravest heart appears meek; The simplest nature appears inconstant. The square, perfected, has no corner; Music, perfected, has no melody; Love, perfected, has no climax; Art, perfected, has no meaning.
The Way can be neither sensed nor known: It transmits sensation and transcends knowledge.
When the common man learns the Way, he follows it on occasion;
When the mean man learns the Way, he laughs out loud;
Those who do not laugh, do not learn at all.
Therefore it is said:
Who understands the Way seems foolish;
Who progresses on the Way seems to fail;
Who follows the Way seems to wander.
For the finest harmony appears plain;
The brightest truth appears coloured;
The richest character appears incomplete;
The bravest heart appears meek;
The simplest nature appears inconstant. The square, perfected, has no corner;
Music, perfected, has no melody;
Love, perfected, has no climax;
Art, perfected, has no meaning.
The Way can be neither sensed nor known:
It transmits sensation and transcends knowledge.