20. Different from the Crowd
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
绝学无忧,唯之与阿,相去几何?
English translation
Let go of learning that multiplies distinctions, and troubles will cease. How much difference is there between a respectful yes and a casual one?
The two responses differ mainly in their degree of courtesy. The question asks whether learning that traps people in social distinctions and anxious calculation may create more worry than understanding.
Original Chinese text
善之与恶,相去若何?
English translation
How far apart are good and bad?
The question examines the boundaries of conventional judgment and warns against treating familiar distinctions as absolute.
Original Chinese text
人之所畏,不可不畏。
English translation
What other people fear cannot simply be ignored.
Questioning convention does not mean acting recklessly; shared dangers and social limits still call for care.
Original Chinese text
荒兮其未央哉!
English translation
How vast it is, with no end in sight!
Once human distinctions and social concerns unfold, they spread beyond the reach of any simple conclusion.
Original Chinese text
众人熙熙,如享太牢,如春登台。
English translation
The crowd is full of delight, as if attending a lavish feast or climbing a terrace in spring.
The shared excitement of pleasure and festivity sets off the speaker's quiet distance from the crowd.
Original Chinese text
我独怕兮其未兆;如婴儿之未孩;儽儽兮若无所归。
English translation
I alone remain still, showing no sign of where I am headed; like an infant that has not yet learned to smile, weary and drifting as if I had no home.
The speaker has not yet been pulled into fixed desires or social expectations. What looks awkward and rootless also preserves openness.
Original Chinese text
众人皆有余,而我独若遗。
English translation
Everyone else seems to have more than enough, while I alone appear to have nothing.
Others measure success by possession and abundance. Refusing those measures makes the speaker seem left out.
Original Chinese text
我愚人之心也哉!
English translation
What a fool's mind I seem to have!
“Foolish” is self-ironic here. It means declining worldly cleverness, not celebrating ignorance.
Original Chinese text
沌沌兮,俗人昭昭,我独若昏。
English translation
Unformed and indistinct—ordinary people are bright and certain, while I alone seem dim.
Because the speaker does not rush to judge or declare a position, he appears slow beside people confident in their clear opinions.
Original Chinese text
俗人察察,我独闷闷。
English translation
Ordinary people are sharply discerning; I alone seem dull and slow.
Against constant calculation and scrutiny, this dullness suggests simplicity, with fewer divisions and less scheming.
Original Chinese text
澹兮其若海,飂兮若无止,众人皆有以,而我独顽似鄙。
English translation
Calm and expansive like the sea, drifting like a wind that never stops. Everyone else has some purpose and ability, while I alone seem stubborn and uncultivated.
A person not fixed to a social role or practical use may look unskilled. This roughness points to a life not carved into shape by convention.
Original Chinese text
我独异于人,而贵食母。
English translation
I alone differ from others, valuing nourishment from the mother.
The “mother” is the source of all things—the Way. Instead of chasing outward abundance, the speaker treasures the source that sustains life.