Chapter 58 — Fortune Rests on Misfortune

Classical text

其政闷闷，其民淳淳；其政察察，其民缺缺。祸兮福之所倚，福兮祸之所伏。孰知其极？其无正也。正复为奇，善复为妖。人之迷，其日固久。是以圣人方而不割，廉而不刿，直而不肆，光而不耀。

Original rendering

When government is unobtrusive, people are simple and sincere. When government is sharply inspecting, people become deficient and evasive. Misfortune is where fortune rests; fortune is where misfortune hides. Who knows their limit? There is no fixed correctness. The normal turns strange; the good turns uncanny. People’s confusion has lasted a long time. Therefore the sage is square but does not cut, principled but does not wound, straight but not reckless, bright but not dazzling.

Beginner’s guide

‘No fixed correctness’ does not erase ethics. It warns that methods and outcomes change with conditions. The four final qualities describe principled gentleness: clear form without using correctness as a weapon.

Key ideas

• Fortune and misfortune contain changing possibilities.

• Excess scrutiny can produce concealment rather than honesty.

• Principle is strongest when it does not humiliate or dazzle.

Reading it in modern life

When good news arrives, prepare responsibly for the risks it brings; when trouble arrives, look for the capacity it may develop. Correct a mistake clearly without using the moment to display superiority. Keep standards firm and delivery humane.

A question to carry

How might this apparent fortune or misfortune already contain the beginning of its opposite?

Continue reading the complete Tao Te Ching overview, Chapter 57 or continue to Chapter 59.