isn't it a little bit disingenuous to try and rate this? i can write all i want, on how it starts and finishes on well-tread avenues realized such that it still reads as new despite its age, yet its midsection—because of that relationship it has to military control and social fabric maintenance showing more clearly—is hopelessly lacking, and on... but it does feel like trying to rate a philosophy based on enjoyment. and that's not really the point. i assume.

because i also think that it would be pointless not to comment on its subjective value, its framework, and how it acts and shifts as a collected set of ideals.

despite verse #50 really just being 'live your truth and you will never die', and how there's so much 'being quiet is good' repeated ad nauseam in different, quickly tiring metaphors; and verse 45's "Be pure like the sheen of silk" seeming to either espouse that manufactured appearances are useful tools, or that beautiful things are inherently good (if not simply a translation fault); there's useful thoughts, truly. and i can't ignore that this kind of writing, this kind of conceptual aid is much more suited to continual rereading and reinterpretation than what i'm attempting.

Only when the family loses its harmony
do we heart of "dutiful sons"
Only when the state is in chaos
do we hear of "loyal ministers"

verse 18

Abandon plots and schemes
Discard profit-seeking
and the people will not become thieves

verse 19

Thus, when two opponents meet
the one without an enemy
will surely triumph

verse 69

The Sage's illness has become ill
his renunciation has been renounced
Now he is free
And every place in this world
is the perfect place to be

verse 71

Why do the people regard death so lightly?—
Because they are so involved with their own living
That’s why they regard death so lightly

In the end,
The treasure of life is missed by those who hold on
and gained by those who let go

verse 75

the best part of these selections is that they don't simply allow, they push you towards continual rethinking, constant reattributing their meanings to different avenues of your life, your purpose, your community, your peace. or whatever they could possibly mean for you, for others. i just wished that, at this point, for all of the multiplicity these (and the collection as a whole) can apply towards, that they hit upon something that felt greater, that its ethereality could manifest more concretely.

maybe i just have to keep learning it all, because maybe that's not how that mirage will show for me.