The Art of Living: Acknowledgements
A Modern Reading of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching

What is the meaning of life? Why is this important? How do you live your life to make it more meaningful? The Art of Living provides timeless answers to these eternal questions including new perspectives on the world, people and their behaviours; practical tools for avoiding and handling conflicts, and, actionable advice on how to lead effectively and make a difference. “This is powerful, this is for practical people struggling with business goals, lacking time with family … feeling stressed.” (All parts)
This interpretation of Lao Tzu stands on the shoulders of the following brilliant scholars, researchers, writers and translators who have wrestled with transforming Tao Te Ching through time and space: Arthur Waley, David L. Hall, Derek Mi-Chang Yuen (袁彌昌), Din Cheuk Lau (劉殿爵), François Jullien, Jan Julius Lodewijk Duyvendak, John Ching Hsiung Wu (吳經熊), John Minford, R. L. Wing (Rita Aero), Robert G. Henricks, Roger T. Ames, Stanley Lombardo, Stephen Addiss, Thomas Cleary and Ursula K. Le Guin.
And, I remember gratefully:
Bob Marshall for indirectly introducing me to Taoism via Non-Violent Communication (NVC) and his Antimatter Principle: Attend to folks’ needs; Jason Yip for inspiring me to go to the original sources of wisdom in Tao Te Ching by pointing out several quotes on Twitter incorrectly attributed to Lao Tzu; Rod Leaverton and Jabe Bloom for helpful tips on valuable Lao Tzu translations; Benjamin Mosior for an insightful write-up bringing Yuen’s work on Lao Tzu and Sun Tzu to my attention; Simon Wardley (swardley) for his reading of Sun Tzu with modern strategic glasses, and, subtle hints on the importance of Lao Tzu for understanding the world in general and China and strategy in particular.
For valuable feedback on content and structure, Yevhenii Kurtov.
For energising encouragements and for spreading the word, Adam S., Adolfo Neto, Anca Trusca, Anchal Sharma, Andrew Murphie, An Idea, anshuman, Bryan Hunt, Dairon Medina, Deepak Sethi, Dipti Singhal, Duc Dang, Faun deHenry, Florian Meyer, Gboyega Soyoola, Goran Skugor, Gösta von Stebut, Holger Gelhausen, Jan Höglund, Joanna Wrona, Johan Thorén, Jorge Juan Fernández, Joseph Lieungh, Joshua Biggley, Isabella Rådevik, Jean Pereira, Jeff Loeb, Jerzy Wójcik, Kenneth Wingårdh, lauris.muzikants, Marc Burgauer, Manuel Rubio, Marianne Rimbark, Maria Wennestam, Mario López de Ávila Muñoz, Mark McCann, Markus Andrezak, Martin Vidal, Michael Litton, Mina Boström Nakicenovic, Mittal Vora, Petter Blomberg, Rajesh KoDanDam, Rolli, Ritika Mittal, Sophia Tran, Staecy Cruz, Stefan Telhammar, Ted van Gaalen, Zenja Hebib, Zoltan Danko and Zoltan Literati.
This work is in progress since I’d like it to evolve according to Your needs —
would you be willing to share Your observations and reflections?
The Art of Living: All Parts
Contents: A very short summary of each part
Introduction: How to make life more meaningful
- Sections 1–6: Ultimate purpose
- Sections 7–13: Attending to needs
- Sections 14–19: We did it ourselves
- Sections 20–24: Grasping the whole
- Sections 25–30: Self-organisation
- Sections 31–37: Knowing yourself
- Sections 38–43: Effectiveness
- Sections 44–49: What is enough?
- Sections 50–55: Ultimate effectiveness
- Sections 56–61: Living with change
- Sections 62–66: Serving without interference
- Sections 67–73: Effectiveness without contending
- Sections 74–81: Balancing
Glossary: Explanation of key terms
Acknowledgements: Standing on the shoulders of giants
Sources: Where to learn more
This is provided as Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International by the author, Erik Schön.