Thursday, May 31, 2012

Tao Bible - Matthew 5:38-41

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
~ King James version ~

After a bitter quarrel, some resentment must remain.
What can one do about it?
Therefore the sage keeps his half of the bargain
But does not exact his due.
A man of Virtue performs his part,
But a man without Virtue requires others to fulfill their obligations.
~ from Verse 79 of the Tao Te Ching ~
I generally try not to use the same TTC citation within a week's time, but it fits here just as well as it did for the entry on Matthew 5:25 (my commentary is the same as well), so...

It must be remembered that I am juxtaposing the TTC, a work of 81 short verses, (with a few citations from the Zhuangzi) versus a document of thousands upon thousands of words. You have to expect a few repeats here and there. ;-)

If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.

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