This chapter from Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) contrasts the attitude of the Daoist Sage with that of ordinary people, using paradoxes to reveal the essence of the Dao.
When we renounce learning we have no troubles.
The (ready) ‘yes,’ and (flattering) ‘yea;’
Small is the difference they display.
But mark their issues, good and ill;
What space the gulf between shall fill?
What all men fear is indeed to be feared; but how wide and without end is the range of questions (asking to be discussed)! 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. Ordinary men look bright and intelligent, while I alone seem to be benighted. They look full of discrimination, while I alone am dull and confused. I seem to be carried about as on the sea, drifting as if I had nowhere to rest. All men have their spheres of action, while I alone seem dull and incapable, like a rude borderer. (Thus) I alone am different from other men, but I value the nursing-mother (the Dao).
Note
While worldly people indulge in sensual pleasures and material gains, the Sage persists in simplicity and sobriedad, pursuing spiritual elevation and refusing to follow the crowd.
Ordinary people:
- Delight in feasts and ambitions;
- Dwell in the anxiety of social competition.
The Sage:
- Appears foolish and unrefined;
- Retains primordial innocence.
Philosophical key:
- A critique of vain erudition that obscures natural intuition.
- The greatest knowledge resembles ignorance. Spiritual richness appears as emptiness.
- Abandoning artificial learning brings true peace.
Further Reading
Chapter Twenty’s statement, “I alone am different from others, for I value being nourished by the Mother,” complements the portrayal of those who have attained the Tao in Chapter Fifteen: “The ancient masters of the Tao were subtle and profound, mysterious and penetrating, too deep to be understood.” Chapter Fifteen describes the external manifestations of those who have attained the Tao (such as caution, simplicity, and openness), while Chapter Twenty, through expressions like “different from others” and “valuing being nourished by the Mother” – referring to the nurturing source of all things, the “Tao” – reveals their inner cultivation methods and spiritual aspirations. Together, they construct a complete image of the “Tao.”
Chapter Nineteen proposes extreme measures such as “abandoning sageliness and discarding wisdom” and “abandoning benevolence and discarding righteousness,” while Chapter Twenty further elaborates with “abandon learning, and you will be free from worry”: only by discarding worldly “knowledge” (such as showcased wisdom and righteousness) can one attain inner tranquility. Together, they construct the governance and self-cultivation logic of “negation and reconstruction.”
絕學無憂，唯之與阿，相去幾何？善之與惡，相去若何？人之所畏，不可不畏。荒兮其未央哉！衆人熙熙，如享太牢，如春登臺。我獨怕兮其未兆；如嬰兒之未孩；儽儽兮若無所歸。衆人皆有餘，而我獨若遺。我愚人之心也哉！沌沌兮，俗人昭昭，我獨若昏。俗人察察，我獨悶悶。澹兮其若海，飂兮若無止，衆人皆有以，而我獨頑似鄙。我獨異於人，而貴食母。
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