Tao Te Ching — Refutation Edition
Chapter 24
Taoism — Lao-tzu and the Unnameable Way · text: Translated by James Legge (Sacred Books of the East, 1891) — Project Gutenberg eBook #216, 'The Tao Teh King' (public domain). Highlighted passages are answered beneath the text.
1He who stands on his tiptoes does not stand firm; he who stretches his legs does not walk (easily). (So), he who displays himself does not shine; he who asserts his own views is not distinguished; he who vaunts himself does not find his merit acknowledged; he who is self-conceited has no superiority allowed to him. Such conditions, viewed from the standpoint of the Tao, are like remnants of food, or a tumour on the body, which all dislike. Hence those who pursue (the course) of the Tao do not adopt and allow them.