I need to go edit that entry at Wikipedia. There are two common misconceptions (by my interpretation) of the Tao Te Ching in that list.

One is in the statement "Self-interest and self-importance are vain and self-destructive." That should be "Self-importance is vain and self-destructive." Self-interest isn't either of the above except when misused. Of course, altruism can be vain and self-destructive as well and, in fact, might be thought as self-destructive by definition. Ayn Rand certainly thought of it that way, and it's awfully difficult to find fault with that particular part of her overall belief system.

The other is the statement that "feminine" qualities are "superior" to "masculine" properties, which is actually quite antithetical to some of the core wisdom of the Tao Te Ching. The very next statement in that list, "Everything in its own time and place," helps to make that clear, I think.

I currently own three copies of the Tao Te Ching, each being a different translation than the other two, and have read it in various translations several times. If pressed to label myself in terms of my metaphysical philosophy, I'd call myself a Taoist. I find such (accidental, I'm sure) misrepresentations of the wisdom of the Tao to be so prevalent is disappointing, though understandable in the context of post-modern Western value systems, which prevail in many universities in the US.

print substr("Just another Perl hacker", 0, -2);
 - apotheon
CopyWrite Chad Perrin

In reply to Re: Tao Perl Ching - The Scripture of the Way of Perl by apotheon
in thread Tao Perl Ching - The Scripture of the Way of Perl by radiantmatrix

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