Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu Book 1 V11 - 13

Tao Te Ching,

Book 1,

Verse 11 30 spokes share one hub.

Adapt the nothing therein to the purpose in hand and you will have the use of the cart.

Knead clay in order to make a vessel.

Adapt the nothing therein to the purpose in hand,

And you will have the use of the vessel.

Cut out doors and windows in order to make a room.

Adapt the nothing therein to the purpose in hand,

And you will have the use of the room.

Thus,

What we gain is something,

Yet it is by virtue of nothing that this can be put to use.

Verse 12.

The five colours make man's eyes blind.

The five notes make his ears deaf.

The five tastes injure his palate.

Riding and hunting make his mind go wild with excitement.

Goods hard to come by serve to hinder his progress.

Hence the sage is for the belly,

Not for the eye.

Therefore he discards the one and takes the other.

Verse 13.

Favour and disgrace are things that startle.

High rank is like one's body,

A source of great trouble.

What is meant by saying that favour and disgrace are things that startle?

Favour when it is bestowed on a subject serves to startle as much as when it is withdrawn.

This is what is meant by saying that favour and disgrace are things that startle.

What is meant by saying that high rank is like one's body,

A source of great trouble?

The reason I have great trouble is that I have a body.

When I no longer have a body,

What trouble have I?

Hence he who values his body more than dominion over the empire can be entrusted with the empire.

He who loves his body more than dominion over the empire can be given the custody of the empire.