DAO

135. Confucius said: "When the Dao prevailed in his country, Ning Wu Tzu played the wise man. When the Dao declined in his country, he played stupid. Someone might be able to match his wisdom, but no one can match his stupidity." [5.20]

136. Confucius said: "Who can leave the room without using the door? So why doesn't anybody follow the Dao?" [6.15]

137. Confucius said: "Knowing the Dao is not as good as loving it; and loving it is not as good as taking delight in it." [6.18]

138. Confucius said: "Live in constant good faith and love learning. Be willing to die for the sake of following the Dao. Do not enter a disorderly state, nor live in one where there is rebellion. When the Dao prevails in the empire, show yourself. When it does not prevail, then hide. When the Dao prevails, you should be ashamed to be poor and unrecognized. When the Dao does not prevail, you should then be ashamed to be wealthy and famous." [8.13]

139. Yen Yuan said: "Looking up at it, it goes higher. Delving into it, it gets more difficult. I see it in front of me, and suddenly it is behind me. Confucius has enriched me with literature and disciplined me with the rules of propriety. I am ready to give up, but I can't. I have done all that I am able to do, and yet there it is, rising up in front of me again. I want to follow it, but I can't see the way." [9.10]

140. Chi K'ang Tzu had been robbed and was very upset. Confucius said: "If you had no desires, no one would steal from you, not even if you offered someone a reward to do so." [12.18]

141. Confucius said: "One who knows the Dao first becomes free of the world; then he becomes free of his culture; then he becomes free from lust; then he becomes free from language." [14.39]

142. Confucius said: "Human beings are manifestations of the Dao. The Dao is not a manifestation of human beings."

143. Confucius said: "Even if you were wise enough to grasp it, you are not virtuous enough to hold on to it. So even if you grasp it, you will certainly lose it. Even if you are wise enough to grasp it and virtuous enough to hold on to it, perhaps you do not manifest it. In that case, the people will not recognize your attainment. Suppose you are wise enough to grasp it and virtuous enough to hold on to it, and suppose also that you manifest it. Nonetheless, if you don't act in accordance with the rules of propriety, you are still not perfect." [15.32]

144. Confucius said: "When the Dao prevails in the realm, the people do not debate politics." [16.2]

145. [The Daoists,] Chang Tso and Chieh Ni were working together in the fields when Confucius and Tzu Lu were passing by. Confucius sent Tzu Lu to ask about the best place to cross the river.
Chang Tso asked: "Who is that in the carriage?" Tzu Lu said: "It is Confucius" Chang said: "The Confucius of Lu?" "Yes." "Well, if that's the case, let him answer his question for himself."
Tzu Lu then approached Chieh Ni, who said: "Who are you?" "I am Tzu Lu." "The follower of this Confucius of Lu?" "Right." Chieh then said: "The world is in radical disorder! Who [is Confucius to think that he] can change it? As for you, rather than following a scholar who flees from this situation or that situation, why don't you follow one who escapes from the world entirely?" And with that, he went back to his work and wouldn't stop. 211
Tzu Lu went back and reported to Confucius what had happened. Confucius said sadly: "I can't enter into human relationships with the birds and beasts! If I don't associate with people, with whom will I associate? If the Dao prevailed in the world, there would be no need to change anything." [18.6]

146. Tzu Lu, having fallen behind Confucius and the other disciples, met an old man carrying a basket on a shoulder-pole. He asked him: "Have you seen my Master?"
The old man said: "You don't know how to work the land. You can't even distinguish between the five kinds of grain. Who, indeed, is your Master?" The old man then planted his staff in the ground and began to pull weeds. Tzu Lu just stood there with his arms folded. The old man allowed him to stay overnight, feeding him a dinner of chicken and millet, and introducing him to his two sons.
The next day, Tzu Lu left and caught up with Confucius. When Tzu Lu told Confucius what had happened, the Master said: "He is a Daoist." Confucius sent Tzu Lu back to see the old man, but when Tzu Lu arrived, he found that the old man and his sons were gone.
Later, Tzu Lu said: "If you don't live in society, how can you practice justice? If the relationship between old and young cannot be ignored, how can the relationship between ruler and ruled be set aside? For the sake of his own purity, the Daoist disrupts the bonds of society. But the Chun-Tzu practices his justice from within society, and he is well aware of the reality of injustice." [18.7]