Tao Te Ching, 7

The sage places himself in the background, but finds himself in the foreground.

He puts himself away, and yet he always remains.

Is it not because he has no personal interests?

This is the reason why his personal interests are fulfilled.

(Tao Te Ching, 7)

Today, i would try to interpret the above text from the topic " No Knowledge, No Desire ".

The sage humbles his self down. He does not boast to whatever he knows. He does not announce his greatness but his greatness announces it for him. It is stated that he places himself in the background yet he finds himself at the foreground. This line proves that no matter how humble the sage may be, his greatness will never be hidden.

"He puts himself away, and yet he always remains"

This line is saying that the sage, being great, does not take all of what he had learned all for himself. He spreads it; he shares it with people. He puts away his personal motives and desires and just share what he has gained. With this, he remains in his self because what he is doing is not for himself but for others. He finds more meaning in what he is doing because he is of pure intention. He remains of who he is because as he shares, he also gets something in return.

This text is part of the topic "No Knowledge, No Desire" because the sage does not have claims to be a sage. He is only said to be sage because of his act. Since, he has knowledge about being a sage, he does not am to be a sage. Although his actions clearly shows he is a sage, the sage doesn't claim to be one making him humble thus his humbleness makes him not desire to be a sage.