Chapter 49 · The Sage Has No Fixed Mind

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

The sage has no invariable mind of his own;

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

The sage has no invariable mind of his own; he makes the mind of the people his mind. To those who are good (to me), I am good; and to those who are not good (to me), I am also good;--and thus (all) get to be good. To those who are sincere (with me), I am sincere; and to those who are not sincere (with me), I am also sincere;--and thus (all) get to be sincere. The sage has in the world an appearance of indecision, and keeps his mind in a state of indifference to all. The people all keep their eyes and ears directed to him, and he deals with them all as his children.

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Chapter 49, in a second rendering

No Fixed Agenda

Dao De Kooi — an original rendering by David Kooi

The steady hand has no fixed agenda - takes the people's hearts as their own. Good to the good. Good to the not-so-good, too. That's how goodness spreads. Trust the trustworthy. Trust the rest as well. That's how trust spreads. In the middle of everything they keep it simple, and pull the whole noisy world back toward plain. People strain to catch every word and watch every move - and they treat the whole lot of them like their own kids.

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