The tao is silent
Much more than a book on Chinese philosophy, THE TAO IS SILENT is a series of ideas inspired by Taoism that treats a wide variety of subjects about life in general. Readers will be charmed and inspired by this witty, sophisticated, yet deeply religious author, whether he is discussing gardening, dogs, the art of napping, or computers who dream that they're human.
Stats for nerds
9recommend
11mentions
10people
2010–2026years
91% recommend9% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I would add "The Tao is silent" by Raymond Smullyan to this list. It's not a translation, or even a rendition, but I should guess anyone with a real interest in the Tao will find that book interesting as well.
- FWIW decades ago I enjoyed "The Tao is Silent" by the late Raymond Smullyan.
Having just scanned for modern reviews I suggest the following link may be helpful--here is an excerpt of their conclusion : "...
All in all, The Tao Is Silent is an interesting book filled with Taoist and Zen wisdom pared down from a complex framework to meet the needs of a contemporary (nineteen-seventies) Western audience, and I can recommend it to people starting out with Taoism with the caveat that it’s aiming for a Western readership with all the guailo-fication that implies. -- Jacob Martin
https://jadecryptofwonders.com/blog/the-tao-is-silent-raymon...
- Then you would love “The Tao Is Silent”! I believe this piece appears in the book, but either way it’s very reminiscent.
- It is indeed in The Tao Is Silent — Raymond's first popular book and one of his best. There's a recent reading of the dialogue on YouTube by Curt Jaimungal, on the "Theory of Everything" channel: https://youtu.be/P-jh6tRh3Jw
- Well, Scott's Unsong is the obvious thing to read if you are into this kind of stuff.
Given the nature of the post, you might also like some of the Taoist writings by Raymond Smullyan himself.
Eg https://www.mit.edu/people/dpolicar/writing/prose/text/godTa... or his book 'The Tao is Silent'.
- That's also in his book "The Tao is Silent". I picked this book off the library shelf at random, so many years ago, and couldn't stop reading the lovely, approachable writing. He helped me think through and finally rid myself of all the fundy Christian mental baggage leftover from when I was a kid.
