Because I'm a born again skeptic, I do my best to avoid

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Because I'm a born again skeptic, I do my best to avoid the obligatory respectful concessions towards mystical texts, especially ones that celebrate the 'wisdom of ancient China' on the cover. I arch an eyebrow at the thought that ancient peoples were in any way privy to profound revelations that have somehow escaped us modern folk, what with our freaky science and all. We do stand both technologically and philosophically on the shoulders of giants, but we must be so careful not to overdo it when trading in tenth-hand manuscripts from the demon haunted world.

The Tao Te Ching is a wonderful collection of ancient poetry, dealing with all manner of subjects from good government to personal happiness. The Way of Life or the Wise Man is one largely based around self denial and the loss of desire, concepts that find little practice in the West. The simplicity is charming, often profound, and its understandable why so many people would resonate with it.

As for myself, it depends which part we're talking about.

The world may be known
Without leaving the house;
The Way may be seen
Apart from the windows.
The further you go,
The less you will know.

Passages like these demonstrate some of the deepest truths about human existence, but of course there's no accounting for bronze-age tyranny.

The ancients who were skilled in the Way
Did not enlighten the people by their rule
But had them ever held in ignorance:
The more the folk know what is going on
The harder it becomes to govern them.

Reveling in something like that is an embrace of evil as profound as anything else you'll read. Still, the one or two exceptions doesn't rule out a collection which may have been written by several hands. I was stirred by many pieces and would not hesitate in recommending this particular mystic text.