Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher, said
"The highest virtue is not virtue, and therefore, really is virtue."
But inferior virtue cannot let go of being virtue
Therefore, is not virtue
Translated in more of a paraphrastic way
[Chorus]
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
In other words, when you breathe
You don't congratulate yourself on being virtuous, but breathing is a great virtue
It's living
It's living
When you come out with beautiful eyes, blue or brown or green, as the case may be
You don't congratulate yourself for having grown one of the most fabulous jewels on Earth
They're just eyes
And you don't account it to virtue, to see, to entertain the miracles of color and form
You say, “Well, that’s just…”
But that's real virtue
Real virtue
Real virtue
Real virtue
[Chorus]
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
Virtue in the sense, the old sense of the word, is strength
As when we talk about the healing virtue of a plant
That's real virtue
But the other virtues are stuck on
They're ersatz
They're imitation virtues, and they usually create trouble
Because more diabolical things are done in the name of righteousness
And be assured that everybody of whatever nationality or political frame of mind, or religion, always goes to war with a sense of complete rightness
The other side is the devil. Our opponents, whether in China or Russia or Vietnam, have the same feeling of righteousness about what they're doing as we have on our side
And a plague on both houses
Because as Confucius said, "The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue."
Of virtue
The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue
The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue
The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue
Which is the form of our own proverb
The road to hell is paved with good intention
"The highest virtue is not virtue, and therefore, really is virtue."
But inferior virtue cannot let go of being virtue
Therefore, is not virtue
Translated in more of a paraphrastic way
[Chorus]
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
In other words, when you breathe
You don't congratulate yourself on being virtuous, but breathing is a great virtue
It's living
It's living
When you come out with beautiful eyes, blue or brown or green, as the case may be
You don't congratulate yourself for having grown one of the most fabulous jewels on Earth
They're just eyes
And you don't account it to virtue, to see, to entertain the miracles of color and form
You say, “Well, that’s just…”
But that's real virtue
Real virtue
Real virtue
Real virtue
[Chorus]
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
The highest virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue
And therefore, really is virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
Lower virtue is so self-conscious that it's not virtue
That it's not virtue
Virtue in the sense, the old sense of the word, is strength
As when we talk about the healing virtue of a plant
That's real virtue
But the other virtues are stuck on
They're ersatz
They're imitation virtues, and they usually create trouble
Because more diabolical things are done in the name of righteousness
And be assured that everybody of whatever nationality or political frame of mind, or religion, always goes to war with a sense of complete rightness
The other side is the devil. Our opponents, whether in China or Russia or Vietnam, have the same feeling of righteousness about what they're doing as we have on our side
And a plague on both houses
Because as Confucius said, "The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue."
Of virtue
The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue
The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue
The goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue
Which is the form of our own proverb
The road to hell is paved with good intention
And what seems a good thing today
Turns out tomorrow to have been a disaster
What seemed in the moral spiritual sphere too, like great virtues in times past
Are easily seen today as hideous evils
Let's take, for example, the Inquisition
In its own day, among Catholics, the Holy Inquisition was regarded as we today regard the practice of psychiatry
You, you see, you feel that in curing the person of cancer, almost anything is justified
The most complex operation, the most weird surgery, people suspended for days and days on end on the end of tubes with x-ray penetration
Burning, people undergoing shock treatment, people locked in the colorless, monotonous corridors of mental institutions
In all good faith, they knew that witchcraft and heresy were terrible things
Awful plagues imperiling people's souls forever and ever
So any means were justified to cure people of heresy
We don’t change
[Chorus]
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We can look back at those people and see how evil that was
But we can't see it in ourselves
So therefore, beware of virtue
[Chorus]
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
Under different names
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
Under different names
So therefore, beware of virtue
So therefore, beware
Beware of virtue
Turns out tomorrow to have been a disaster
What seemed in the moral spiritual sphere too, like great virtues in times past
Are easily seen today as hideous evils
Let's take, for example, the Inquisition
In its own day, among Catholics, the Holy Inquisition was regarded as we today regard the practice of psychiatry
You, you see, you feel that in curing the person of cancer, almost anything is justified
The most complex operation, the most weird surgery, people suspended for days and days on end on the end of tubes with x-ray penetration
Burning, people undergoing shock treatment, people locked in the colorless, monotonous corridors of mental institutions
In all good faith, they knew that witchcraft and heresy were terrible things
Awful plagues imperiling people's souls forever and ever
So any means were justified to cure people of heresy
We don’t change
[Chorus]
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We can look back at those people and see how evil that was
But we can't see it in ourselves
So therefore, beware of virtue
[Chorus]
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
Under different names
We don't change
We're doing the same thing today
But under different names
We don't change (Nah, nah, nah, nah)
We're doing the same thing today
Under different names
So therefore, beware of virtue
So therefore, beware
Beware of virtue
[Chorus]
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The same problem arises in medicine, because the body is a very complexly interrelated organism
And if you look at the body in a superficial way, you may see there's something wrong with it
Here's chicken pox, and the spots that itch
You might say, "Well, spots are there, cut 'em off."
So you kill the bug
Well, then you find you've got real problems, because you have to introduce some bugs to kill the bug
It's like bringing rabbits into Australia
And that starts going all over the place and getting out of hand
Then you think, "Now, wait a minute. It wasn't the bugs in the blood, there are bugs all over the place. What was wrong with this person that his blood system suddenly became vulnerable to those particular bugs?"
His resistance wasn’t up
Therefore, what you should have given was not an antibiotic, but vitamins
Okay, so we're gonna build up his resistance, but resistance for what?
You may build up resistance to this and this and this class of bugs, but then there's another one that loves that situation, it comes right in
[Chorus]
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
See, we always look at the human being medically, in bits and pieces
Because we have heart specialists, lung specialists, bone specialists, nerve specialists, and so on
And so on
They each see the human being from their point of view
There are a few generalists, but they realize the human body's so complicated that no one mind can understand it
And furthermore, supposing we do succeed in healing all these people of their diseases
What do we then do about the population problem?
I mean, we've stopped cholera, the black bubonic plague, we're getting the better of tuberculosis, we may fix cancer and heart disease
Then what will people die of?
Well, they'll just go on living, with the enormous quantities of us
Then we have to fix this birth thing
Pills for everyone
Then we find what are the effects, the side effects, of those pills?
What are the psychological effects upon men and women of not breeding children in the usual way?
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
[Chorus]
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
[Outro]
Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The same problem arises in medicine, because the body is a very complexly interrelated organism
And if you look at the body in a superficial way, you may see there's something wrong with it
Here's chicken pox, and the spots that itch
You might say, "Well, spots are there, cut 'em off."
So you kill the bug
Well, then you find you've got real problems, because you have to introduce some bugs to kill the bug
It's like bringing rabbits into Australia
And that starts going all over the place and getting out of hand
Then you think, "Now, wait a minute. It wasn't the bugs in the blood, there are bugs all over the place. What was wrong with this person that his blood system suddenly became vulnerable to those particular bugs?"
His resistance wasn’t up
Therefore, what you should have given was not an antibiotic, but vitamins
Okay, so we're gonna build up his resistance, but resistance for what?
You may build up resistance to this and this and this class of bugs, but then there's another one that loves that situation, it comes right in
[Chorus]
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
See, we always look at the human being medically, in bits and pieces
Because we have heart specialists, lung specialists, bone specialists, nerve specialists, and so on
And so on
They each see the human being from their point of view
There are a few generalists, but they realize the human body's so complicated that no one mind can understand it
And furthermore, supposing we do succeed in healing all these people of their diseases
What do we then do about the population problem?
I mean, we've stopped cholera, the black bubonic plague, we're getting the better of tuberculosis, we may fix cancer and heart disease
Then what will people die of?
Well, they'll just go on living, with the enormous quantities of us
Then we have to fix this birth thing
Pills for everyone
Then we find what are the effects, the side effects, of those pills?
What are the psychological effects upon men and women of not breeding children in the usual way?
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
We don't know
[Chorus]
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
The way the world actually is
Is an enormously complex interrelated organism
[Outro]
Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you
We white Anglo-Saxon Protestants, British, German, American, have been on a rampage, for the past hundred or more years, to improve the world
To improve the world
We have given the benefits of our culture, our religion, our technology to everybody
Except perhaps the Australian aborigines
And we have insisted that they receive the benefits of our culture, even our political styles, our democracy
You better be Democratic, or we'll shoot you
And having conferred these blessings all over the place, we wonder why everybody hates us
See, because sometimes, doing good to others, and even doing good to oneself
Is amazingly destructive, because it's full of conceit
[Chorus]
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
So we don't know
It's like the problem of geneticists, which they face today
I went to a meeting of geneticists not so long ago, where they gathered in a group of philosophers and theologians and said, "Now, look here. We need help."
We now are on the verge of figuring out how to breed any kind of human character
We would want to have
We can give you saints, philosophers, scientists, great politicians, anything you want
Just tell us, what kind of human beings ought we to breed?
So, I said, "How will those of us who are genetically unregenerate make up our minds what genetically generate people might be?”
Because I'm afraid, very much, that our selection of virtues may not work
It may be like, for example, this new kind of high-yield grain
Which is becoming ecologically destructive
When we interfere with the processes of nature and breed efficient plants and efficient animals
There's always some way in which we have to pay for it
And I can well see that eugenically-produced human beings might be dreadful
We could have a plague of virtuous people
You realize that?
You realize that?
Any animal considered in itself is virtuous, it does its thing, but in crowds, they're awful
Like a crowd of ants or locusts on the rampage
They're all perfectly good animals, but it's just too much
I could imagine a perfectly pestiferous mass of a million saints
[Chorus]
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
So I said to these people, "Look, the only thing you can do, just be sure that a vast variety of human beings is maintained."
Don't, please, breed us down to a few excellent types
Excellent for what?
Excellent for what?
We never know how circumstances are going to change, and how our need for different kinds of people changes
At one time, we may need very individualistic and aggressive people
At another time, we may need very cooperative team-working people
At another time, we may need people who are full of interest in dexterous manipulation of the external world
At another time, we may need people who explore into their own psychology and are introspective
There is no knowing
But the more varieties and the more skills we have, obviously, the better
So, you see, here again, the problem comes out in genetics
We do not really know how to interfere with the way the world is
To improve the world
We have given the benefits of our culture, our religion, our technology to everybody
Except perhaps the Australian aborigines
And we have insisted that they receive the benefits of our culture, even our political styles, our democracy
You better be Democratic, or we'll shoot you
And having conferred these blessings all over the place, we wonder why everybody hates us
See, because sometimes, doing good to others, and even doing good to oneself
Is amazingly destructive, because it's full of conceit
[Chorus]
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
So we don't know
It's like the problem of geneticists, which they face today
I went to a meeting of geneticists not so long ago, where they gathered in a group of philosophers and theologians and said, "Now, look here. We need help."
We now are on the verge of figuring out how to breed any kind of human character
We would want to have
We can give you saints, philosophers, scientists, great politicians, anything you want
Just tell us, what kind of human beings ought we to breed?
So, I said, "How will those of us who are genetically unregenerate make up our minds what genetically generate people might be?”
Because I'm afraid, very much, that our selection of virtues may not work
It may be like, for example, this new kind of high-yield grain
Which is becoming ecologically destructive
When we interfere with the processes of nature and breed efficient plants and efficient animals
There's always some way in which we have to pay for it
And I can well see that eugenically-produced human beings might be dreadful
We could have a plague of virtuous people
You realize that?
You realize that?
Any animal considered in itself is virtuous, it does its thing, but in crowds, they're awful
Like a crowd of ants or locusts on the rampage
They're all perfectly good animals, but it's just too much
I could imagine a perfectly pestiferous mass of a million saints
[Chorus]
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
How do you know what's good for other people?
How do you know what's good for you?
If you say you want to improve, you ought to know what's good for you
But obviously, you don't, because if you did, you would be improved
So I said to these people, "Look, the only thing you can do, just be sure that a vast variety of human beings is maintained."
Don't, please, breed us down to a few excellent types
Excellent for what?
Excellent for what?
We never know how circumstances are going to change, and how our need for different kinds of people changes
At one time, we may need very individualistic and aggressive people
At another time, we may need very cooperative team-working people
At another time, we may need people who are full of interest in dexterous manipulation of the external world
At another time, we may need people who explore into their own psychology and are introspective
There is no knowing
But the more varieties and the more skills we have, obviously, the better
So, you see, here again, the problem comes out in genetics
We do not really know how to interfere with the way the world is
Then the great problem, how to get that higher self-working
How does it make any difference to what you do and what you think?
I know all kinds of people who got this higher self going, practicing their yoga
But they're just like ordinary people
Sometimes a little worse
And they can fool themselves
Fool themselves
They can fool themselves
They can say, for example, "Well, my point of view in religion is very liberal.”
“I believe that all religions have divine revelation in them, but I don't understand the way you people will fight about it.”
“You fight and say that we Jehova's Witnesses have the ‘real religion’."
(Real religion)
Others say, "Well, we Roman Catholics have it."
And the Muslims say, "No, it is in the Quran, and this is the right way."
(This is the right way)
(Pre-Chorus)
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
And somebody else gets up, and he may be a rather highbrow Catholic, and say, "Well, God has given the spirit through all the traditions, but ours is the most refined and mature."
And then, somebody comes along and says, "Well, as I said, they're all equally revelations of the divine."
And in seeing this, of course, I'm much more tolerant than you are
You see how that game is gonna work?
The architect, this position, supposing you regard me as some sort of a guru, and you know how gurus hate each other
Always putting each other down
And I could say, "Well, "I don't put other gurus down."
See, that outwits all of 'em
They were always doing that!
They're always finding a way to be one up, and by the most incredibly subtle means
So you see that, you see?
And you say, "I realize I'm always doing that. Tell me, how do I not do that? "
(How do I not do that?)
(Chorus)
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
How do I not do that?
This is the right way
How do I not do that?
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
How do I not do that?
This is the right way
How do I not do that?
Say why do you wanna know?
Well, I'll be better that way
Yeah, but why do you wanna be better?
Why do you wanna be better?
Why do you wanna be better?
You see, the reason you want to be better is the reason why you aren't
We aren't better because we want to be
Because the road to hell is paved with good intentions
Because all the do-gooders in the world, whether they're doing good for others or doing it for themselves, are troublemakers
Troublemakers
On the basis of, "Kindly let me help you or you'll drown,” said the monkey, putting the fish safely up a tree
"Kindly let me help you or you'll drown,” said the monkey, putting the fish safely up a tree
"Kindly let em help you or you'll drown," said the monkey, putting the fish safely up a tree
"Kindly let me help you or you'll drown," said the monkey, putting the fish safely up a tree
"Kindly let me help you or you'll drown," said the monkey, putting the fish safely up a tree
"Kindly let me help you or you'll drown," said the monkey, putting the fish...
How does it make any difference to what you do and what you think?
I know all kinds of people who got this higher self going, practicing their yoga
But they're just like ordinary people
Sometimes a little worse
And they can fool themselves
Fool themselves
They can fool themselves
They can say, for example, "Well, my point of view in religion is very liberal.”
“I believe that all religions have divine revelation in them, but I don't understand the way you people will fight about it.”
“You fight and say that we Jehova's Witnesses have the ‘real religion’."
(Real religion)
Others say, "Well, we Roman Catholics have it."
And the Muslims say, "No, it is in the Quran, and this is the right way."
(This is the right way)
(Pre-Chorus)
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
And somebody else gets up, and he may be a rather highbrow Catholic, and say, "Well, God has given the spirit through all the traditions, but ours is the most refined and mature."
And then, somebody comes along and says, "Well, as I said, they're all equally revelations of the divine."
And in seeing this, of course, I'm much more tolerant than you are
You see how that game is gonna work?
The architect, this position, supposing you regard me as some sort of a guru, and you know how gurus hate each other
Always putting each other down
And I could say, "Well, "I don't put other gurus down."
See, that outwits all of 'em
They were always doing that!
They're always finding a way to be one up, and by the most incredibly subtle means
So you see that, you see?
And you say, "I realize I'm always doing that. Tell me, how do I not do that? "
(How do I not do that?)
(Chorus)
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
How do I not do that?
This is the right way
How do I not do that?
This is the right way
This is the right way
This is the right way
How do I not do that?
This is the right way
How do I not do that?
Say why do you wanna know?
Well, I'll be better that way
Yeah, but why do you wanna be better?
Why do you wanna be better?
Why do you wanna be better?
You see, the reason you want to be better is the reason why you aren't
We aren't better because we want to be
Because the road to hell is paved with good intentions
Because all the do-gooders in the world, whether they're doing good for others or doing it for themselves, are troublemakers
Troublemakers
On the basis of, "Kindly let me help you or you'll drown,” said the monkey, putting the fish safely up a tree
"Kindly let me help you or you'll drown,” said the monkey, putting the fish safely up a tree
"Kindly let em help you or you'll drown," said the monkey, putting the fish safely up a tree
"Kindly let me help you or you'll drown," said the monkey, putting the fish safely up a tree
"Kindly let me help you or you'll drown," said the monkey, putting the fish safely up a tree
"Kindly let me help you or you'll drown," said the monkey, putting the fish...