道德經(三十八章)｜Tao Te Ching (Verse 38)

上德不德，是以有德。
下德不失德，是以無德。
上德，無為而無以為；
下德，為之而有以為；
上仁為之而無以為。
上義為之而有以為。
上禮為之而莫之應，則攘臂而扔之。
故失道而後德，失德而後仁，失仁而後義，失義而後禮；
夫禮者，忠信之薄，而亂之首。
前識者，道之華，而愚之始。
是以大丈夫處其厚，不居其薄，
處其實，不居其華，故去彼取此。

****

You can readily recognize the highest virtuousness
because it never places itself on display.
You can readily recognize the lowest virtuousness
because it is always announcing itself.

The highest virtue quietly serves universal needs.
The lowest virtue actively strives for personal success.
The highest morality serves common needs.
The lowest morality is self-serving.

True venevolence
acts without intention.
But when rituals go unheeded,
they are enforced with rolled-up sleeves.

Failing the Great Integrity, we resort to virtuousness.
Failing virtuousness, we resort to moralizing.
Failing moralizing, we resort to dogma,
the most superficial form of faith and loyalty,
and the nourishment for confusion.

Natural persons are attracted
to substance rather than form,
to the nutritious fruit rather than the enticing flower,
to that which dwells deeply within,
rather than to that which clings superficially to the surface.

***
後記：忽感惘然，從書架上找了本老子的《道德經》，讀了以上一篇。
P.S. Suddenly felt a bit confused, so I grabbed the 'Tao Te Ching' by Lao Tzu, and read the above.

The Arts of Living

Thinking living my life should not be just about work & play, I am recently indulged in reading. So, I am spending some time on books before I go bed every night.

Tonight, I was reading "The Importance of Living" (by Lam Yu Tong) and "Tao Te Ching" (by Lao Tzu).

Somehow, I found these books have led me to think again what means by "Living". These new thoughts actually have brought me a happier life, plus got me the heart to live a happy life with my loved ones.

The Sea of Books

"Reading" has become one of my 'habits'. No matter how busy I am, I would do my best to squeeze some time during the week to read. If I was being asked what kind of shop I like the most, I would immediately choose 'bookstore' - despite some of my friends would probably guess 'wine bar' should be my answer.

I also realized buying books has become my habit as well. Even though I like going to library, I don't really like borrowing books from there. The first reason is I feel happier to 'own' the book, while the other reason is I don't like returning books. The 'time limit' to finish the book made me feel a bit tensed somehow.

By now, my speed buying books has been increasing... and then my little room has become like the 'sea of books'...

The Culture of Reading

I love reading since my childhood years. Yet, I didn't really like borrowing books from library. Instead, I like going to bookstore and staying there for quite a while, or I would just buy my favorite books back home to read & have that as my "collection".

It seems that less and less people would like to go bookstore and stay there to read or to check out the books. One of the reasons could be the high rent in Hong Kong, making it so difficult to get that large space for bookstore like the "Book City" in Shenzhen or "eslite" in Taiwan. Such spacious bookstores (or I should put "MEGA BOOKSTORE"!?) are in fact really good place for spending a whole day! In Hong Kong, it is also common for the store assistant to stop people from sitting on the ground to read in a bookstore. Perhaps the owner is afraid that people doing this will not buy anything, or simply because of the 'visual nuisance' which the owner does not like. In fact, this discourage people to stay longer in the bookstore. Last, another reason could be the popluarity of e-books nowadays.

What a pity indeed.

I have been to China, Taiwan, Singapore, the United States, Europe... Compared to Hong Kong, I would say the 'culture of reading' in those places are much richer and more popular among the general public. Bookstore is still a popular place, and the books found there involve really vast and deep subjects. There is no boundary in the 'wisdom' behind at all. Bookstore is such a good place for family as well!

I wish there will be some sort of 'culture of reading' in Hong Kong.