Lao Tzu – 2,600 year old wisdom from one of the first libertarians

Lao Tzu  – 2,600 year old wisdom from one of the first libertarians

My team and I are holding a very special event for members of our Sovereign Man: Total Access group for the next few days here in Medellin, Colombia.

Medellin is a spectacular city. It’s vibrant and growing, and it has a fantastic energy. I’ll tell you much more about this, and what we’re up to, next week.

But before I sign off for a couple of days to focus on our event, I wanted to leave you with some gentle wisdom that I re-read on the plane ride up here the other day.

Roughly 2,600 years ago, Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wrote Tao Te Ching, the most important text of the Taoist tradition that encourages harmonious living.

I first read his book more than 20 years ago, well before I started seeing the world with open eyes.

This time around it had a much greater impact.

Lao Tzu was one of the early libertarians; his philosophy is anti-state and anti-authority, and many of the passages seem especially prescient right now.

There’s one in particular that I wanted to share:

When the palaces are full of excessive splendor,
The fields are full of weeds and the granaries are empty.
To dress in elegant clothing, carrying fine weapons,
Gorging in food with wealth and possessions in abundance—
this is called boasting of thievery.

Click the links above to see just how prescient Lao Tzu was.