Why does gentle water carve solid rock? In Chapter 8 of the Tao Te Ching, we learn that the highest good isn’t force but quiet service. This episode shows how water’s humility can shape your English practice, cool conflict, and simplify daily life.
✨ Why listen?
• Discover why softness outlasts strength.
• Master key words like benefit, compete, disdain, content.
• Try a “water exercise” that relaxes your mind and sharpens your speech.
📜 Chapter 8 Text
The highest good is like water.
Water benefits all things and does not compete.
It flows to places people disdain,
and so is like the Tao.
In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don’t try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.
When you are content to be simply yourself
and don’t compare or compete,
everybody will respect you.
📢 Stay connected!
Host — @luiz.manzato
English coaching — @goldenpath.english
Press play and let calm currents guide your growth. 🚀
Why do the sky above and the earth beneath us seem to endure forever? Chapter 7 of the Tao Te Ching reveals the secret: what lasts the longest serves the most. In this episode, discover how stepping back can lift you up, why easing your grip on ego protects your energy, and how small acts of service accelerate your English fluency.
📜 Chapter 7 Text
Heaven is eternal and Earth is lasting.How can they be eternal and lasting?Because they do not live for themselves.
Therefore, the sage puts himself last and becomes the first,neglects himself and is preserved.Is it not because he is unselfish that he fulfills himself?
✨ Why listen?• Learn the real power of “going last.”• Master key words like eternal, lasting, neglect, unselfish.• Try a micro-service habit that calms your mind and sharpens your English.
📝 Full transcript + exercisesDownload the PDF with the complete script, vocabulary list, and practice activities:📌 Access here
📲 Stay connectedHost — @luiz.manzatoNeed English classes? — @goldenpath.english
Hit play and find strength in humble steps. 🚶♀️💫
In this episode, we explore Chapter 6 of the Tao Te Ching, a poetic meditation on the source of all things—the quiet, nourishing presence known as the mysterious female. Discover how softness can be stronger than force, how receptivity gives birth to creativity, and why the most powerful wisdom often comes from silence. This chapter invites you to connect with the root of all life, the place within you that can never be drained.
📝 Want to go deeper?
Access the full transcription, English practice exercises, and glossary in the PDF:
📌 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FZZrTcFJ8F1zJRuBmHvtxHDFHlSNvpTU/view?usp=sharing
📜 The full text of Chapter 6 from the Tao Te Ching:
The spirit of the valley never dies.
This is called the mysterious female.
The gateway of the mysterious female
is called the root of Heaven and Earth.
Dimly visible, it seems as if it were there,
Yet use will never drain it.
📢 Stay connected!
📲 Follow the host: @luiz.manzato
🎓 Want English lessons? @goldenpath.english
Press play and enter the stillness. 🌬️✨
In this episode, we explore Chapter 5 of the Tao Te Ching, where we’re reminded that nature doesn’t take sides, and true wisdom doesn’t either. Discover how the Tao embraces all things without judgment, how emptiness can be powerful, and why silence often says more than words. This chapter invites us to release control, return to center, and trust the space between things.
📝 Want to take your learning further?
Access the full transcription, exercises to practice English, and expanded vocabulary in the PDF:
📌 Download here
📜 The full text of Chapter 5 from the Tao Te Ching:
Heaven and Earth are not kind.
They regard all things as offerings.
The sage is not kind.
He regards people as offerings.
Is not the space between Heaven and Earth like a bellows?
It is empty, but lacks nothing.
The more it moves, the more comes out of it.
A multitude of words is tiresome,
Unlike remaining centered.
📢 Stay connected!
📲 Follow the host: @luiz.manzato for more insights.
🎓 Want English lessons? Check out @goldenpath.english.
Hit play and return to center with us. 🌀
In this episode, we reflect on Chapter 4 of the Tao Te Ching, where the Tao is compared to an endless well—a source that’s used but never used up. You’ll discover how the Tao represents a hidden yet ever-present force, filled with infinite possibilities, and how trusting this natural flow can shift the way you live and learn. Especially when it comes to language—the more you use it, the more it grows.
📝 Want to take your learning further?
Access the full transcription, exercises to practice English, and expanded vocabulary in the PDF:
📌 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TuoeXv8pmJULGadSxmBA8uYiXaEpxWts/view?usp=sharing
📜 The full text of Chapter 4 from the Tao Te Ching:
The Tao is like a well: used but never used up.
It is like the eternal void: filled with infinite possibilities.
It is hidden but always present.
I don’t know who gave birth to it.
It is older than God.
📢 Stay connected!
📲 Follow the host: @luiz.manzato for more insights.
🎓 Want English lessons? Check out @goldenpath.english.
Hit play and let’s drink from the source together. 🌊✨
In this episode, we explore Chapter 3 of the Tao Te Ching, a powerful reflection on how chasing success, praise, and possessions leads to imbalance. You'll discover why true peace comes from letting go of control, lowering the noise of ambition, and embracing the wisdom of wu wei—the art of effortless action. What happens when we act without attachment and trust the natural flow of life?
📝 Want to take your learning further?
Access the full transcription, exercises to practice English, and expanded vocabulary in the PDF:
📌 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wAtYdoV5N6KUahM8gn5rgGLiMbNBZASk/view?usp=drive_link
📜 The full text of Chapter 3 from the Tao Te Ching:
If you overesteem great men, people become powerless.
If you overvalue possessions, people begin to steal.
The Master leads
by emptying people’s minds and filling their cores,
by weakening their ambition and toughening their resolve.
He helps people lose everything they know, everything they desire,
and creates confusion in those who think that they know.
Practice not-doing,
and everything will fall into place.
📢 Stay connected!
📲 Follow the host: @luiz.manzato for more insights.
🎓 Want English lessons? Check out @goldenpath.english.
Hit play and let’s walk the path together! 🚶♂️💛
In this episode, we explore another chapter of the Tao Te Ching and uncover a powerful truth: opposites define each other. You’ll learn how good and bad, easy and hard, success and failure are all connected, and why true wisdom comes from embracing both sides of life. Plus, we’ll dive into the concept of wu wei—effortless action—and how it can transform the way you learn, grow, and navigate challenges.
📝 Want to take your learning further?
Access the full transcription, exercises to practice English, and expanded vocabulary in the PDF:
📌https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p2L3lC42vVD7dR6Zmv2OUCt-ced3kJ5C/view?usp=sharing
📜 The full text of Chapter 2 from the Tao Te Ching:
When people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good, other things become bad.
Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.
Therefore, the Master acts without doing anything and teaches without saying anything.
Things arise and she lets them come; things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn’t possess, acts but doesn’t expect.
When her work is done, she forgets it.
That is why it lasts forever.
📢 Stay connected!
📲 Follow the host: @luiz.manzato for more insights.
🎓 Want English lessons? Check out @goldenpath.english.
Hit play and let’s begin this journey! 🚀
📝 Want to take your learning further?Access the full transcription, exercises to practice English, and expanded vocabulary in the PDF:📌 Download here
In this first episode, we dive into Chapter 1 of the Tao Te Ching. You'll discover how labels shape our reality, how letting go of control opens new possibilities, and why true understanding begins in the unknown.
📜 The full text of Chapter 1 from the Tao Te Ching:
The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin of all particular things.
Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.
Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.
📢 Stay connected!
📲 Follow the host: @luiz.manzato for more insights.
🎓 Want English lessons? Check out @goldenpath.english.
In this series, I'll share insights on this profound text to help you improve your English while exploring timeless wisdom. We'll explore the ideas from the book in accessible language, making complex philosophy understandable and applicable. If you need extra help, check out the glossary and a full Br-Pt translation.
Br-Pt Transcription:
Deixe-me te perguntar uma coisa. Você já se sentiu como se estivesse em busca de equilíbrio, propósito ou, talvez, apenas um pouco de clareza na sua vida? Sabe, neste mundo tão acelerado em que vivemos, não seria incrível ter algum tipo de sabedoria—algo que não só acalme sua mente, mas que também te ajude a crescer como pessoa?
É aí que entra o Tao Te Ching. É um dos textos mais profundos já escritos. Vem da antiga China, de mais de 2.500 anos atrás, e o mais surpreendente é que ele continua tão relevante hoje quanto era naquela época. Tradicionalmente, o livro é atribuído a Laozi, que significa “Velho Mestre”. Algumas histórias contam que Laozi foi um arquivista durante a dinastia Zhou, alguém que coletava e preservava o conhecimento. Mas aí está o mistério: Será que Laozi foi real?
Sinceramente, não sabemos. Algumas pessoas acreditam que ele foi uma figura histórica de verdade; outras acham que ele pode ter sido uma lenda, ou até mesmo um símbolo de sabedoria que emergiu de um grupo de pessoas. Mas deixa eu te fazer refletir: imagine que você está caminhando por uma floresta densa e se depara com uma pegada enorme.
Você não vê a criatura que a deixou, mas pode ter certeza de uma coisa—o animal que deixou aquela marca deve ter sido imenso. O Tao Te Ching é assim. Independentemente de Laozi ter sido real ou não, a sabedoria contida neste livro é tão vasta, tão profunda, que só pode ter vindo de algo verdadeiramente extraordinário.
Agora, vamos falar sobre o título, porque até o nome tem seu significado. "Tao" (T-A-O) significa “O Caminho”. Não qualquer caminho, mas o fluxo natural da vida, do universo, de tudo. "Te" (T-E) significa virtude, ou caráter—é a forma como vivemos em harmonia com esse Caminho. E "Ching" (C-H-I-N-G)? Significa “clássico” ou “escritura”. Juntos, Tao Te Ching pode ser traduzido como “O Clássico do Caminho e da Virtude”.
O que torna este livro tão especial não é apenas sua filosofia profunda, mas também o quão prático ele é. Apesar de ser antigo, ele nos oferece lições que se encaixam perfeitamente em nossas vidas modernas. Ele nos mostra como encontrar equilíbrio no caos, como simplificar em um mundo tão avassalador e como encarar a vida com humildade e paz. E não está vinculado a nenhuma religião ou sistema de crenças. É simplesmente uma sabedoria que qualquer pessoa pode utilizar.
E aqui vem a parte empolgante dessa jornada: nós não vamos apenas ler este livro. Nós vamos crescer com ele. É uma oportunidade para você melhorar seu inglês—aprender novo vocabulário, aprofundar seu entendimento do idioma—e, ao mesmo tempo, refletir sobre verdades atemporais que podem te tornar uma pessoa melhor.
Uma coisa para se lembrar enquanto seguimos: o Tao Te Ching não te dá todas as respostas. Em vez disso, ele te ajuda a fazer as perguntas certas. Ele te guia para encontrar seu próprio caminho.
Então, deixo você com este pensamento, um conselho atemporal do próprio autor:
"Uma jornada de mil milhas começa com o primeiro passo."
E este? Este é o nosso primeiro passo. Vamos dá-lo juntos.
Glossary:
Balance(noun): A state where things are equal or stable.
Wisdom(noun): Deep knowledge or understanding, often gained from experience.
Archivist(noun): A person who collects, organizes, and preserves historical documents.
Virtue(noun): Good moral qualities or behavior.
Overwhelming(adjective): Very intense, or too much to handle.
Timeless(adjective): Not affected by time; always relevant.
Tied to(idiom): Connected or linked to something.
Fast-paced(adjective): Moving or happening quickly.
Footprint(noun): A mark left by a foot, or a metaphor for an impact or trace left behind.