Tao Te Ching · a short reading
A passage from Tao Te Ching. Translated by James Legge.
Chinese · English
English translation prepared automatically for the Brief. Original sources and creator credits remain the reference.
The multitude of men look satisfied and pleased; as if enjoying a full banquet, as if mounted on a tower in spring. I alone seem listless and still, my desires having as yet given no indication of their presence. I am like an infant which has not yet smiled. I look dejected and forlorn, as if I had no home to go to. The multitude of men all have enough and to spare. I alone seem to have lost everything. My mind is that of a stupid man; I am in a state of chaos.
The work and its creator
Explore the original at Project Gutenberg ↗
Creator: Laozi (traditional attribution)
Nationality / cultural background: Chinese
Work / edition: 1891 translation
Translation: James Legge · English
Historical public-domain text. Selected passage; line-end whitespace normalised. No generated quotation.
In the source: PART 1.; paragraph 62 in the selected body section
Selected for the Brief on 13 Sep 2026. This date records our selection, rather than when the work was created.
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