The Master Is Never a Model of Civic Virtue

If he has to, a master is ready to violate a community's code — but he never violates the law by which it really lives. Sometimes, however, he can obey this law only by turning the community's tidy systems upside-down. This is why he is never a model of civic virtue — never an example for the upright citizen to follow.

The man, who, being really on the Way, falls upon hard times in the world will not, as a consequence, turn to that friend who offers him refuge and comfort and encourages his old self to survive. Rather, he will seek out someone who will faithfully and inexorably help him to risk himself, so that he may endure the suffering and pass courageously through it. Only to the extent that man exposes himself over and over again to annihilation, can that which is indestructible arise within him. In this lies the dignity of daring.