At least once a year and in some years more often than that, I re-read Lao-tse’s Tao Te Ching. Other than the Bible and the Indian Bhagavad Gita (The Song of God), no other work has been translated into so different many languages.

As those who read my reviews, interviews, and commentaries already know, this is my favorite passage:

“Learn from the people
Plan with the people
Begin with what they have
Build on what they know
Of the best leaders
When the task is accomplished
The people will remark
We have done it ourselves.”

With material dating back to about 2,600 years ago, its title has sometimes been rendered as “The Book of the Way and Its Power” or “The Way of Life.” Tao (pronounced “dow”) means “way” as in a path, road, or direction; Te (pronounced “duh”) refers to individual power, virtue, integrity, and spirit; and Ching (pronounced “jeeang’) is the Chinese word for a classic.

Here are a few key points including a few suggested by translators:

1. At the book’s center is a plea for non-action (wu-wei), for permitting objects to take their own natural course.

2. “The person of superior integrity/does not insist upon integrity; for this reason, he has integrity.” (Victor Mair)

3. “We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel;/But it is in space where there is nothing on which the usefulness of the wheel depends.” (Arthur Waley)

4. “The Tao Te Ching counsels us to keep ourselves receptive, tender, patient, and tolerant. Only be turning away from the quest for wealth and honors, by rejecting the rat race, can we live a worthy life. No wonder Thoreau admired Lao-tse.” (Michael Dirda)

5. Its pages tell us that our deepest self is fundamentally good, and that our lives can be happy if we will only follow our true nature, an inner way that is also the greater Way.”

This is not a book merely to be read; rather, a brief but abundant treasury of wisdom to be absorbed and digested.