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"Superior De is not about virtue; It therefore has virtue; Inferior De does not want to lose virtue; It therefore has no virtue. Superior De does nothing and has no intent of doing anything; Superior Humaneness does something but has no intent of doing anything. Superior Righteousness does something and has the intent of doing something. Superior Propriety does something but receives no response, So it raises its arm and flexes its muscles. Thus when Dao is lost, there is De; When De is lost, there is Humaneness; When Humaneness is lost, there is Righteousness; When Righteousness is lost, there is Propriety. As for Propriety, It is the paucity of faith and the beginning of turmoil; As for prophecies, They are the embellishments of Dao and the beginning of folly. That is why a true man Stays with abundance and not with paucity, Stays with substance and not with embellishments. Hence, he discards that and adopts this."
Author
Lao TzuAll Translations
"Superior De is not about virtue; It therefore has virtue; Inferior De does not want to lose virtue; It therefore has no virtue. Superior De does nothing and has no intent of doing anything; Superior Humaneness does something but has no intent of doing anything. Superior Righteousness does something and has the intent of doing something. Superior Propriety does something but receives no response, So it raises its arm and flexes its muscles. Thus when Dao is lost, there is De; When De is lost, there is Humaneness; When Humaneness is lost, there is Righteousness; When Righteousness is lost, there is Propriety. As for Propriety, It is the paucity of faith and the beginning of turmoil; As for prophecies, They are the embellishments of Dao and the beginning of folly. That is why a true man Stays with abundance and not with paucity, Stays with substance and not with embellishments. Hence, he discards that and adopts this."