Comparing Laozi Gathered Eighty Seven And Book Two Books

1. Laozi gathered eighty-one short texts and placed them into two books. Book one contains thirty-seven and Book two consist of thirty-eight. Each passage falls into one or more themes. These themes are; the Way, Non-desiring, Knowledge, Value, Non-action, Nothingness, and Nature. In the thirty-seven chapters each one describes a different aspect of The Daodejing. In chapter eighteen, the Way is used to describe the text because it says â€Å"When the great Way is abandoned, there are benevolence and righteousness† (Laozi,167). By this, it is talking about the Way in the first sentence, then it continues to connect to the Way. Also, in chapter thirty-two, it talks about the Way. It says that the Way is nameless, therefore because it does not have a name, there is no certain path to you can take to master it. The next theme is Non-desiring. In chapter seven, it talks about if you want something it will not last forever. But if you are selfless and realize that you need to put yourself first, then you are in a state of Non-desiring. It also talks about Non-desiring in chapter nineteen. In the chapter is says if we eliminate certain actions, then we will receive better out comes. If you do not do anything bad, then there could not possible be any bad to come. The next theme is Knowledge. In chapter twenty-four, it says â€Å"Those who stand on tiptoe cannot stand firm. Those who stride cannot go far† (170). It means, if you are educated and know how to live without desiring or