← The Dao De Jing
Chapter 18
When the Great Way Declines
大道废
The Text
大道废，有仁义；智慧出，有大伪；六亲不和，有孝慈；国家昏乱，有忠臣。
When the great way declines, benevolence and righteousness appear. When cleverness and knowledge come forth, great hypocrisy arises. When the six family relations are out of joint, there are filial sons. When the state is in darkness, loyal ministers stand out.
Reading it
Each virtue named here is a symptom, not a cure. Filial sons get written about precisely when families break; loyalty gets celebrated in dark courts. The visible word marks the invisible hole.
这里说的每种德行都是症状，不是药方。孝子被写出来，恰是家庭散了的时候；忠臣被歌颂，恰是朝堂黑了的时候。可见的词，标记着不可见的洞。
Practice for the week
Find the value your workplace talks about most. Identify the dysfunction that speech exists to cover.
找出你的单位最爱讲的那个价值。说出这段话用来遮盖的那个失灵。