A one-minute narration sample. Every book in the library is narrated end to end — hear the rest in the app.
Tao Te Ching · 45 of 81
Who thinks his great achievements poor Shall find his vigour long endure. Of greatest fulness, deemed a void, Exhaustion ne’er shall stem the tide. Do thou what’s straight still crooked deem; Thy greatest art still stupid seem, And eloquence a stammering scream.
Constant action overcomes cold; being still overcomes heat. Purity and stillness give the correct law to all under heaven.
Asked of Guide
Why does Lao Tzu say 'greatest fulness, deemed a void' and praise seeming weakness?
Lao Tzu says that what looks empty or foolish actually preserves strength: “Of greatest fulness, deemed a void, / Exhaustion ne’er shall stem the tide.” The chapter presents humility and apparent weakness as the forms that endure, because they avoid the waste that comes from flaunted success.
He ties that endurance to practice: “Constant action overcomes cold; being still overcomes heat,” so measured effort and stillness supply the “correct law to all under heaven.” This echoes Chuang Tzu’s view that a world governed by Tao turns warhorses into plough animals, favoring usefulness over show.
Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.
Echoes elsewhere