Explanation Of Tao Te Ching Part Forty One 

“The wise student hears of the Tao and practices it diligently.
The average student hears of the Tao and gives it thought now and again.
The foolish student hears of the Tao and laughs aloud.
If there were no laughter, the Tao would not be what it is. 

Hence it is said:
The bright path seems dim;
Going forward seems like retreat;
The easy way seems hard;
The highest Virtue seems empty;
Great purity seems sullied;
A wealth of Virtue seems inadequate;
The strength of Virtue seems frail;
Real Virtue seems unreal;
The perfect square has no corners;
Great talents ripen late;
The highest notes are hard to hear;
The greatest form has no shape;
The Tao is hidden and without name.
The Tao alone nourishes and brings everything to fulfilment.”

The wise student will live the Tao because they can understand the wisdom. The average one will know it’s good but be distracted or lazy, the foolish one will not see the wisdom and ridicule it. The problem is that it goes against the zeitgeist of human greed and selfishness.

For that reason its simplicity is difficult to understand when all indoctrination has been toward the opposite, making it seem hard, backward and empty, whereas it is actually deep and profound bringing the deepest fulfilment.