The Tao Te Ching
絕仁棄義，民復孝慈；
絕巧棄利，盜賊無有。
此三者以為文不足，故令有所屬：
見素抱樸，少私寡欲。
Abandon holiness and discard wisdom, and the people will benefit a hundredfold.
Abandon benevolence and discard righteousness, and the people will return to natural filial piety and compassion.
Abandon cleverness and discard profit, and thieves and robbers will disappear.
These three, serving as mere external ornamentation, are insufficient.
Therefore, let the people hold to what is substantial:
Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, and have few desires.
Lao Tzu challenges the idea that we need complex rules, etiquette, and intellectual definitions of "righteousness" to be good people.
When we try too hard to be "holy" or "wise," we often end up acting out a role rather than being authentic.
This performative morality creates hypocrisy, as people focus on looking good rather than doing good.
It separates us from our innate intuition, replacing natural empathy with calculated obligation.
By discarding these artificial standards, we allow our original nature—which is naturally kind and cooperative—to resurface without the pressure of societal judgment.
Consider how a child instinctively comforts a crying friend without knowing the definition of "altruism," versus an adult who donates to charity solely for tax benefits or public praise.
The former is natural compassion; the latter is artificial ornamentation.
The concept of "Pǔ" (the Uncarved Block) represents our original state of potential and simplicity, unburdened by the complications of excessive knowledge or desire.
In this chapter, the instruction to "manifest plainness and embrace simplicity" is the core antidote to the chaos of civilized life.
The Uncarved Block is wood that hasn't been cut into a specific tool; it retains its wholeness and natural integrity.
In human terms, this means unlearning the layers of sophistication, status-seeking, and cleverness we accumulate as we grow up.
It is not about being ignorant, but about being unburdened by the need to impress.
Think of the difference between a wild forest that grows naturally versus a manicured French garden that requires constant, exhausting maintenance to keep its artificial shape.
One is self-sustaining; the other is a struggle against nature.
Obsession with profit and intellectual trickery creates a society of competition and theft rather than harmony and trust.
Lao Tzu argues that when society prizes "cleverness" (scheming) and "profit" (accumulation), it inevitably breeds crime and disorder.
If we value rare objects and status symbols, we create the motivation for theft and envy.
The more we rely on complex laws and loopholes, the more people learn to navigate around them dishonestly.
True security comes not from better locks or smarter police, but from reducing the collective desire for excess.
A community where neighbors share tools freely rarely sees theft because there is no desperate grasping.
In contrast, a corporate environment focused solely on bonuses often sees cutthroat betrayal and ethical violations because the "profit" motive overrides human connection.
The Problem: A parent feels overwhelmed by reading endless books on "perfect" parenting, trying to implement complex behavioral systems, and worrying if they are "righteous" enough in their methods. They constantly judge themselves against expert advice, leading to stress and a disconnect from their child, as the relationship becomes a project to be managed rather than a bond to be enjoyed.
The Taoist Solution: The Taoist approach is to "abandon wisdom" in the sense of discarding external, rigid methodologies. Instead of following a manual, the parent returns to natural affection and instinct. By embracing simplicity and reducing the desire to mold the child into a specific "successful" outcome, the parent rediscovers natural love. The relationship heals because it is based on presence and genuine connection (filial piety) rather than performance and anxiety.
The Problem: A manager is obsessed with "cleverness" and "profit," constantly implementing complex new strategies, jargon-filled mission statements, and competitive metrics to squeeze more productivity out of the team. This creates an atmosphere of distrust, burnout, and internal politics, where employees focus on gaming the system rather than doing meaningful work, effectively becoming "thieves" of time and resources.
The Taoist Solution: The manager should "manifest plainness" by stripping away the unnecessary layers of bureaucracy and corporate theater. By reducing selfishness—the need to look like a visionary genius—and focusing on the simple, substantial work at hand, the team stabilizes. When the leader stops trying to manipulate outcomes with clever tricks and instead supports the team's natural workflow, productivity actually increases, and the "thieves" (inefficiency and resentment) disappear naturally.
The Problem: An individual spends hours curating their online persona, trying to appear "holy" (virtuous) and "wise" (opinionated) to gain followers. They feel a constant pressure to signal their righteousness on every social issue, yet they feel empty and disconnected offline. Their life has become "ornamentation"—a pretty shell with no substance—leading to anxiety and a loss of their true self.
The Taoist Solution: The remedy is to "embrace simplicity" and "reduce desires" for validation. They must disconnect from the performative aspect of digital life and return to the "Uncarved Block" of their actual, physical existence. By abandoning the need to project a sophisticated image, they find that their real relationships deepen. They stop performing virtue for an audience and start living it in small, quiet interactions, finding that the "plain" life holds the contentment they were desperately seeking online.