Happy 76th Birthday for Blanche Karen Eubanks Garofalo

Happy 76th Birthday, Karen!!  

We have been married for 57 years and have celebrated your birthday on St. Patrick's Day many times for much fun and celebration.  Today, we will do the same.  

Best wishes for continued good health and happiness.

I love you, and so do many others.  

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, Chapter 58

Daodejing, Laozi
Chapter 58

"When the ruler looks repressed the people will be happy and satisfied;
When the rule looks lively and self-assured the people will be carping and discontented.
“It is upon bad fortune that good fortune leans, upon good fortune that bad fortune rests.”
But though few know it, there is a bourn where there is neither right nor wrong;
In a realm where every straight is doubled by a crooked,
And every good by an ill, surely mankind has gone long enough astray?
Therefore the Sage
Squares without cutting,
Shapes the corners without lopping,
Straightens without stretching,
Gives forth light without shining."  
-  Translated by Arthur Waley, 1934, Chapter 58   

"When the government is unobtrusive, the people will be simple and honest.
When the government is dictatorial, the people will be seized with panic.
Fortune depends on misfortune.
Misfortune is hidden in fortune.
He who knows how to stay within the limits will not have misfortune.
Correctness will lead to deceit.
Good will lead to evil.
Nothing can remain always the same.
People have been confused by this since ancient times.
That is why the sage
behaves correctly without hurting others,
behaves honestly without damaging others,
behaves straightforwardly without vilifying others,
behaves brightly without dazzling others."
-  Translated by Chao-Hsiu Chen, Chapter 58   

"When the government (cheng) is dull,
Its people are wholesome;
When the government is efficient (ch'a),
Its people are deficient (ch'üeh).
Calamities (huo) are what blessings depend on,
In blessings are latent calamities (huo).
Who knows where is the turning point (chi)?
Because there is no longer the normal (cheng),
The normal reverts and appears as the strange (ch'i),
The good reverts and appears as the uncanny.
Rulers (jen) have lost their way,
For a long stretch of days.
Therefore the sage is square but not cutting (ko),
Sharp but not injurious,
Straight but not overreaching,
Bright (kuang) but not dazzling."
-  Translated by Ellen M. Chen, Chapter 58  



其政悶悶, 其民淳淳.
其政察察, 其民缺缺. 
禍兮福之所倚.
福兮禍之所伏. 
孰知其極.
其無正. 
正復為奇.
善復為妖. 
人之迷其日固久.
是以聖人方而不割.
廉而不劌.
直而不肆.
光而不燿. 
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 58   


ch'i chêng mên mên, ch'i min shun shun.
ch'i chêng ch'a ch'a, ch'i min ch'üeh ch'üeh.
huo hsi fu chih so yi.
fu hsi huo chih so fu.
shu chih ch'i chi.
ch'i wu chêng. 
chêng fu wei ch'i
shan fu wei yao.
jên chih mi ch'i jih ku chiu.
shih yi shêng jên fang erh pu ko.
lien erh pu k'uei.
chih erh pu ssu.
kuang erh pu yao.
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 58


"When the government is blunt and inactive the people will be happy and prosperous;
When the government is discriminative, the people will be dissatisfied and restless.
It is upon misery that happiness rests;
It is under happiness that misery lies.
Who then can know the supremacy (good government)?
Only when the government does no rectifying.
Otherwise the rectitude will again become stratagem,
And good become evil.
Men have been ignorant of this, since long ago.
Therefore the Sage is square but does not cut others;
He is angled but does not chip others;
He is straight but does not stretch others;
His is bright but does not dazzle others."
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 58 


"If a government is unobtrusive,
the people become whole.
If a government is repressive,
the people become treacherous.

Good fortune has its roots in disaster,
and disaster lurks with good fortune.
Who knows why these things happen,
or when this cycle will end?
Good things seem to change into bad,
and bad things often turn out for good.
These things have always been hard to comprehend.

Thus the Master makes things change
without interfering.
She is probing yet causes no harm.
Straightforward, yet does not impose her will.
Radiant, and easy on the eye."
-  Translated by J. H. McDonald, 1996, Chapter 58 


"Cuando el gobierno es discreto,
el pueblo es diligente.
Cuando el gobierno es vigilante,
el pueblo es indolente.
La desdicha tiene su origen en la dicha.
La dicha acecha a la desdicha.
Lo supremo es no dar órdenes
¿Pero quien se da cuenta de ello?
Lo correcto se convierte en incorrecto
y el bien se convierte en calamidad.
Pero el hombre no lo entiende,
porque desde hace tiempo es engañado.
Por eso el sabio es recto pero no tajante,
es anguloso pero no hiriente,
es firme pero no insolente,
es iluminado pero no encandila."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Tao Te Ching, Capítulo 58


"A free and generous government gives the people a chance to develop.
When a government is rigid and exacting the people are cramped and miserable.
Misery is but the shadow of happiness.
Happiness is but the cloak of misery.
When will there be an end to them?
If we dispense with rectitude, distortion will assert itself; and what was good in its way will give place to what is evil.
Verily the people have been under a cloud for a long time.
Therefore the wise man is full of rectitude, but he does not chirp and carve at others.
He is just, but he does not admonish others.
He is upright, but he does not straighten others.
He is enlightened, but he does not offend with his brightness."
-  Translated by Walter Gorn Old, 1904, Chapter 58  

Chapter 58 of the Tao Te Ching

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching

English Language Translators' Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List