Chapter 24: Beware of Boasting and Excessive Exaggeration

Those who boast are not established, 

those who exaggerate cannot take action;

Those who see only themselves, 

cannot radiantly play their part;

Those who only show themselves off, 

cannot shine bright like the sun and the moon.

Those who are only out to get for themselves, 

cannot be accomplished;

Those who only boast of themselves in each moment, 

cannot grow and endure long.

On the Way, 

these are called excessive indulging and superfluous shaping.

Things detest them, 

therefore those who have the Way do not dwell on them.

People get carried away sometimes.  When we boast, we run the risk of getting blown about and carried away in our own boastings.  We sometimes don’t keep our feet on the ground in our ripping good yarns.  Similarly, when we exaggerate the things we are doing, it can often prevent us from making a choice and taking action.   Often, we exaggerate to try and fit in, show off, gain acceptance, or curry favor.  In the words of French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850): "We exaggerate misfortune and happiness alike.  We are never either so wretched or so happy as we say we are." Why do we exaggerate both the good and the bad in our lives?

 Exaggeration and boasting come from a place of insecurity and insufficiency – as if trying to compensate for believing the lie that we are not enough as we are, where we are in our lives right now.  Instead, of embracing our place in the universe as rare and precious treasures, we rob ourselves of our own self-worth, then put ourselves on display and show off to let others determine our worth for us, and we jump on that roller coaster of relative worth and the corkscrew of constant comparison.  In the words of an earlier French author and fellow playwright Jean-François de La Harpe (1739-1803): “To exaggerate is to weaken.” When we boast and exaggerate, we actually weaken our true selves.

When our focus is turned inward and we see only ourselves, we cannot embrace our place in the universe and play our personal part in a world that desperately needs the unique gifts that only we can bring.  Ironically, the more we try to show off for the world, the less we show up in it.  When we take an antagonistic approach to life competing and comparing ourselves with everyone else around us, we end up focusing on the wrong things and don’t create what we actually want in life.  When we spend our time and energy boasting trying to convince everyone how amazing we are instead of just being amazing, we cannot grow, develop patience and resilience, and have a lasting impact.  Sooner or later, everyone gets tired of hearing the same, old stories.

We don’t need to binge on pork barrel boasting or excessive exaggerations.  We don’t need to add extraneous embellishments and superfluous frivolities to sculpt and shape our image for others.  In the words of progressive author Michael Bassey Johnson’s Song of a Nature Lover, “If roses could talk, they would not boast of their beauty, because they know that they have always been beautiful.”  So it can be with us.  Yet, how often do we fail to see our own innate beauty and instead fall victim to society's shallow and subjective beauty trap stereotypes? The truth is, each of us is amazing, awesome, and absolutely essential in this world in our own unique ways.  We don’t need to dwell on anything else.  We don’t need to add anything else to it.  We don’t need to prove it to anyone – including ourselves.  As American industrialist and diplomat Owen D. Young (1874-1962) stated: “When boasting ends, there dignity begins.”  We can restore our dignity by refusing to boast and exaggerate and by eliminating the limiting labels that hold us back.  With our feet firmly established in our unconditional worth and unvarying identity, we can set out on a path of our choosing, pursue our personal passion and powerful purpose on this planet, let our light shine forth in the world, and create a lasting legacy.

 

Translation Notes:

The later received editions of the Dao De Jing replace the character 吹 (chui1) ‘to blow’ and also ‘to boast’ or ‘to be blown about’ with 企 (qi3) meaning ‘to stand on tiptoes.’  While this visual contrasts well with 立 (li4) to stand firm and to be firmly established and the pairing of 跨 (kua4), which can originally meant to straddle, and 行 (xing2) to take action, I have followed the older Mawangdui manuscripts, which both have 吹 and thus set up an alternative parallel describing how boasting and exaggerating prevent us from becoming established and taking action in our lives, as we don’t have to do anything if we can pose and fake it.  This ties in well to the rest of the chapter.

 

Etymology Notes:

The Chinese character 跨 (kua4) literally means to straddle and comes to mean ‘to exaggerate one’s steps.’  It is comprised of a foot 足 on the left and 夸 (kua1) on the right, which is further comprised of a 大 on top, meaning large, and a 亏 on the bottom, referring to sacrificial offerings.  Together 夸 means extravagant offerings or larger than life luxuries.  When we are straddling at a crossroads trying to keep one foot in both camps and keep all of our options open, we cannot choose and fully commit to a course of action.  Similarly, when we are too busy boasting about how great our contributions to the world are and exaggerating what we’ve already done or are doing, we can’t take action.