70 吾言甚易知 甚易行

老子道德經第七十章

吾言甚易知 甚易行
天下莫能知 莫能行
言有宗 事有君
夫唯無知 是以不我知
知我者希 則我者貴
是以聖人被褐而懷玉

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SEVENTY (Feng)

My words are easy to understand and easy to perform,
Yet no one under heaven knows them or practices them.

My words have ancient beginnings.
My actions are disciplined.
Because men do not understand, they have no knowledge of me.

Those that know me are few;
Those that abuse me are honoured.
(Not "abuse" but "follow")
Therefore the sage wears rough clothing and holds the jewel in his heart.

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70

I say simple things but nobody gets it.
I show easy ways but nobody does it.
I can tell you, what I know is really neat,
But you guys are so dumb you can't learn.
Few people understand me, and even fewer follow me.
Oh well, I am gonna pretend to be dumb too.

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70. (ST)

Lao Tzu's advice
was easy to understand
and easy to follow.
But nobody understood him
or did what he suggested.

His words
stemmed from ancient wisdom,
and his actions were highly disciplined.
People didn't get that,
which is why
they didn't understand him.
And the less they understood him,
the more meaningful his advice became.

That's why the Masters live simply,
hiding their wisdom deep within themselves.