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He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.

Laozi, Tao Te Ching, chapter 46

Philosophy

The story behind the card

The Tao Te Ching, 'the classic of the Way and its power', is a short book of 81 poetic chapters and the founding text of Taoism. Tradition credits it to Laozi, 'Old Master', said to have kept the archives at the Zhou court in the 6th century BC and to have written the book at a gatekeeper's request as he left China through a western pass. Historians doubt he was a single real person; the oldest surviving copy, on bamboo strips, dates from around 300 BC. Chapter 46 contrasts a world in harmony, where fast horses pull dung carts on the farms, with a world at war, where warhorses are bred on the borders. It then says there is no greater disaster than not knowing what is enough, and ends with this line. The English proverb 'enough is as good as a feast' makes a similar point.

Türkçe oku
Yetinmeyi bilene elindeki her zaman yeter.
Laozi, Tao Te Ching, 46. bölüm

Tao Te Ching, yani “Yol ve Erdem Kitabı”, 81 kısa, şiirsel bölümden oluşur ve Taoculuğun temel metnidir. Geleneğe göre yazarı, adı “Yaşlı Usta” anlamına gelen Laozi'dir. Anlatılana göre MÖ 6. yüzyılda Zhou sarayında arşiv görevlisiydi; Çin'i batıdaki bir geçitten terk ederken geçit bekçisinin ricası üzerine bu kitabı yazdı. Tarihçiler, Laozi'nin gerçekten yaşamış tek bir kişi olduğundan kuşku duyar; bilinen en eski nüsha, MÖ 300 dolaylarından kalma bambu şeritler üzerine yazılmıştır. 46. bölüm uyum içindeki bir dünyayla savaştaki bir dünyayı karşılaştırır: Birinde hızlı atlar tarlada gübre arabası çeker, ötekinde sınır boylarında savaş atları yetiştirilir. Ardından, neyin yeterli olduğunu bilmemekten büyük felaket olmadığını söyler ve bu cümleyle biter. İngilizcedeki “enough is as good as a feast” sözü de Türkçedeki “Kanaat gibi devlet olmaz” sözü de aynı düşünceyi dile getirir.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Laozi
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