Chapter 43

Chapter 43

That which offers no resistance,
overcomes the hardest substances.
That which offers no resistance
can enter where there is no space.

Few in the world can comprehend
the teaching without words,
or understand the value of non-action.

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I don’t have much to say regarding this chapter because I clarified my points regarding the previous chapters containing similar ideas. Is it possible that Lao Tzu was a dumb person unable to speak and wanted to compensate for his dumbness by degrading the value of spoken words? Only heaven knows. In my own view, there are few good teachings that can be taught without words.

Regarding the first verse however, I have one thing to say. You must defend yourself when somebody is about to attack you. You cannot win over him by opting to show no resistance. However, there are cases where no resistance works. If your enemy constantly nags you, do not respond. If you do not provide something they can fight against, they will grow exhausted like in the constant game of hide-and-seek as once explained by Robert Greene.

Although you may be able to knock out somebody by punching him on the chin, it is unlikely that you can kill a feathery fly with the same amount of punch power because the feathery fly is so light that it hardly offers any physical resistance upon getting hit.