Chapter 12 · The Senses and the Belly

Tao Te Ching (Legge, 1891) · chapter title added by Learn the Dao

Learn the Dao: a quiet practice for learning the thing that can’t be known.

The chapter’s first line

Colour's five hues from th' eyes their sight will take;

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This chapter in plain modern English — David Kooi’s rendering ↓

Colour's five hues from th' eyes their sight will take; Music's five notes the ears as deaf can make; The flavours five deprive the mouth of taste; The chariot course, and the wild hunting waste Make mad the mind; and objects rare and strange, Sought for, men's conduct will to evil change. Therefore the sage seeks to satisfy (the craving of) the belly, and not the (insatiable longing of the) eyes. He puts from him the latter, and prefers to seek the former.

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He puts from him the latter and — missed prefers to seek the former

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Chapter 12, in a second rendering

Too Many Colors

Dao De Kooi — an original rendering by David Kooi

Too many colors and your eyes go dead. Too much noise and you stop hearing. Too many flavors and nothing tastes like anything. The racing and the chasing leave the mind rattled. Hard-to-get stuff just gets you tangled up wanting it. This is the attention economy, and it's old news - they had it in bronze, we have it on glass. So the steady hand goes by the gut, not the eye. Drops the one, keeps the other.

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