A Classic Manual on the Art of Living

Following the phenomenal success of his own version of the Tao Te Ching, renowned scholar and translator Stephen Mitchell has composed the innovative Chinese Wisdom for Today. Drawn from the work of Lao-tzu’s disciple Chuang-tzu and Confucius’ grandson Tzu-ssu, Chinese Wisdom for Today offers readers a path into reality. It provides advice that imparts balance and perspective and teaches us how to work for the good with the effortless skill that comes from being in accord with the Tao–the basic principle of the universe.

Mitchell has selected the freshest, clearest teachings from these two great students of the Tao and adapted them into versions that reveal the poetry, depth, and humor of the original texts with a thrilling new power. Alongside each adaptation, Mitchell includes his own commentary, at once explicating and complementing the text.

Mitchell’s meditations and risky reimagining of the original texts are brilliant and liberating, not least because they keep catching us off guard, opening up the heavens where before we saw a roof. He makes the ancient teachings at once modern, relevant, and timeless.