XLI, pg. 48

90

When the best student hears about the way
He practices it assiduously;
When the average student hers about the way
It seems to him one moment there and gone the next;
When the worst student hears about the way
He laughs out loud.
If he did not laugh
It would be unworthy of being the way.

91

Hence the Chien yen has it:
The way that is bright seems dull;
The way that leads forward seems to lead backward;
The way that is even seems rough;
The highest virtue is like the valley;
The sheerest whiteness seems sullied;
Ample virtue seems defective;
Vigorous virtue seems soiled;
Plain virtue seems indolent;
The great square has no corners;
The great vessel takes long to complete;
The great not is rarefied in sound;
The great image has no shape;

92

The way conceals itself in being nameless;
It is the way alone that excels in bestowing and in accomplishing.