Verse 53 of Tao Te Ching reads:

If I had the least bit of wisdom

I could follow the path of Tao quite well.

My only fear would be trying to go my own way.

The Great Path is simple and direct

yet people love to take the side-routes.

See how magnificent the courts have become

The women dress in colorful gowns

The men carry well-crafted swords

Food and drink overflow

Wealth and finery abound

Yet in the shadow of all this splendor

the fields grow barren

the granaries are all but empty.

I say this pomp at the expense of others is like the boasting of thieves after a looting

Surely it is contrary to Tao

Surely it cuts against the grain of the whole empire

I tell you, the wisdom of Lao Tzu aligns with the truth before us today.

For he spoke of a path—simple and direct—

A way that does not stray into the glittering falsehoods of this world.

And what did he see?

Magnificent courts, overflowing feasts, treasures piled high—

While the fields lay barren and the people starved.

He called it the boasting of thieves,

For wealth built on the suffering of others cuts against the grain of life itself.

Do we not see the same today?

Fiat, born of nothing, puffed up with pomp,

Feeds the few while draining the life from the many.

It looks rich, but leaves the land empty.

It promises wealth, but steals from the hands of those who labor.

But Bitcoin, like the Tao, follows a different path.

It does not rely on force or deception,

Nor does it prop up the powerful at the cost of the weak.

It moves with honesty, with fairness, with reality.

It is simple, direct, and true.

Lao Tzu saw the danger of chasing the easy road,

Of straying from what is pure and right.

The same is true now—

For those who walk the crooked path of fiat

Turn away from truth, from life, from justice.

I say to you, as Lao Tzu said,

Do not be led astray by the splendor of the courts,

The promises of ease and wealth.

For that path leads only to emptiness.

Instead, follow the way that honors life,

The way that holds value in what is real,

The way of Bitcoin, which is in harmony with the Tao.