Author Description

Excerpt from The Simple Way: Laotze (the 'Old Boy') In introducing to the public the Third Edition of Laotze's "Simple Way," the writer begs to express his appreciation of the favourable reception accorded to this translation of the celebrated work of the Chinese sage, and desires to take the opportunity to offer a few brief comments on the precise meaning of the title of the work, which appears to have led in certain instances to some misapprehension. A great deal has been heard of late years about the Simple Life, which everybody appears to advocate and nobody follows out. Some laudable attempts have been made to get into closer touch with Nature by a few enthusiasts who have sought to extort her secret by systematically prodding her bare body with dibble, fork and spade, displaying thus considerable liveliness and not a little simplicity, but wholly failing either to make life simple or to attain to the simple life. This was inevitable; for the Way, the Truth and the Life that are simple are not to be compassed by Small Holdings and a Manual of Husbandry. The House-bondman may tend the root of our bodily needs, but he does not touch the complex of our higher and wider life. Yet it is in relation to our principles of life rather than our common activities that the Simple Life gains its greatest meaning and value. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to prese