by Lao Tzu
For this reason,
The great man resides in substance,
not in attenuation.
He resides in fruitful reality,
not in blossomy ornament.
Therefore,
He rejects the one and adopts the other.
2
(39)
In olden times, these attained unity:
Heaven attained unity,
and thereby became pure.
Earth attained unity,
and thereby became tranquil.
The spirits attained unity,
and thereby became divine.
The valley attained unity,
and thereby became full.
Feudal lords and kings attained unity,
and thereby all was put right.
Yet, pushed to the extreme,
It implies that,
If heaven were ever pure,
it would be likely to rend.
It implies that,
If earth were ever tranquil,
it would be likely to quake.
It implies that,
If the spirits were ever divine,
they would be likely to dissipate.
It implies that,
If the valley were ever full,
it would be likely to run dry.
It implies that,
If feudal lords and kings were ever noble
and thereby exalted,
they would be likely to fall.
Therefore,
It is necessary to be noble,
and yet take humility as a basis.
It is necessary to be exalted,
and yet take modesty as a foundation.
Now, for this reason,
Feudal lords and kings style themselves
orphaned,” “destitute,” and “hapless.”
Is this not because they take humility as their basis?
Therefore,
Striving for an excess of praise,
one ends up without praise.
Consequently,
Desire not to be jingling as jade
nor stolid as stone.
3
(41)
When the superior man hears the Way,
he is scarcely able to put it into practice.
When the middling man hears the Way,
he appears now to preserve it, now to lose it.
When the inferior man hears the Way,
he laughs at it loudly.
If he did not laugh,
it would not be fit to be the Way.
For this reason,
There is a series of epigrams that says:
“The bright Way seems dim.
The forward Way seems backward.
The level Way seems bumpy.
Superior integrity seems like a valley.
The greatest whiteness seems grimy.
Ample integrity seems insufficient.
Robust integrity seems apathetic.
Plain truth seems sullied.
The great square has no corners.
The great vessel is never completed.
The great note sounds muted.
The great image has no form.
The Way is concealed and has no name.”
Indeed,
The Way alone is good at beginning
and good at completing.
4
(40)
Reversal is the movement of the Way;
Weakness is the usage of the Way.
All creatures under heaven are born from being;
Being is born from nonbeing.
5
(42)
The Way gave birth to unity,
Unity gave birth to duality,
Duality gave birth to trinity,
Trinity gave birth to the myriad creatures.
The myriad creatures bear yin on their backs
and embrace yang in their bosoms.
They neutralize these vapors
and thereby achieve harmony.
That which all under heaven hate most
Is to be orphaned, destitute, and hapless.
Yet kings and dukes call themselves thus.
Things may be diminished by being increased,
increased by being diminished.
Therefore,
That which people teach,
After deliberation, I also teach people.
Therefore,
“The tyrant does not die a natural death.”
I take this as my mentor.
6
(43)
The softest thing under heaven
gallops triumphantly over
The hardest thing under heaven.
Nonbeing penetrates nonspace.
Hence,
I know the advantages of nonaction.
The doctrine without words,
The advantage of nonaction—
few under heaven can realize these!
7
(44)
Name or person,
which is nearer?
Person or property,
which is dearer?
Gain or loss,
which is drearier?
Many loves entail great costs,
Many riches entail heavy losses.
Know contentment and you shall not be disgraced,
Know satisfaction and you shall not be imperiled;
then you will long endure.
8
(45)
Great perfection appears defective,
but its usefulness is not diminished.
Great fullness appears empty,
but its usefulness is not impaired.
Great straightness seems crooked,
Great cleverness seems clumsy,
Great triumph seems awkward.
Bustling about vanquishes cold,
Standing still vanquishes heat.
Pure and still,
one can put things right everywhere under heaven.
9
(46)
When the Way prevails under heaven,
swift horses are relegated to fertilizing fields.
When the Way does not prevail under heaven,
war-horses breed in the suburbs.
No guilt is greater than giving in to desire,
No disaster is greater than discontent,
No crime is more grievous than the desire for gain.
Therefore,
Contentment that derives from knowing
when to be content
is eternal contentment.
10
(47)
Without going out-of-doors,
one may know all under heaven;
Without peering through windows,
one may know the Way of heaven.
The farther one goes,
The less one knows.
For this reason,
The sage knows without journeying,
understands without looking,
accomplishes without acting.
11
(48)
The pursuit of learning results in daily increase,
Hearing the Way leads to daily decrease.
Decrease and again decrease,
until you reach nonaction.
Through nonaction,
no action is left undone.
Should one desire to gain all under heaven,
One should remain ever free of involvements.
For,
Just as surely as one becomes involved,
One is unfit for gaining all under heaven.
12
(49)
The sage never has a mind of his own;
He considers the minds of the common people to be his mind.
Treat well those who are good,
Also treat well those who are not good;
thus is goodness attained.
Be sincere to those who are sincere,
Also be sincere to those who are insincere;
thus is sincerity attained.
The sage
is self-effacing in his dealings with all under heaven,
and bemuddles his mind for the sake of all under heaven.
The common people all rivet their eyes and ears upon him,
And the sage makes them all chuckle like children.
13
(50)
A person comes forth to life and enters into death.
Three out of ten are partners of life,
Three out of ten are partners of death,
And the people whose every movement leads them to the
land of death because they cling to life
Are also three out of ten.
Now,
What is the reason for this?
It is because they cling to life.
Indeed,
I have heard that
One who is good at preserving life
does not avoid tigers and rhinoceroses
when he walks in the hills;
nor does he put on armor and take up weapons
when he enters a battle.
The rhinoceros has no place to jab its horn,
The tiger has no place to fasten its claws,
Weapons have no place to admit their blades.
Now,
What is the reason for this?
Because on him there are no mortal spots.
14
(51)
The Way gives birth to them and integrity nurtures them.
Matter forms them and function completes them.
For this reason,
The myriad creatures respect the Way and esteem integrity.
Respect for the Way and esteem for integrity
are by no means conferred upon them
but always occur naturally.
The Way gives birth to them,
nurtures them,
rears them,
follows them,
shelters them,
toughens them,
sustains them,
protects them.
It gives birth but does not possess,
acts but does not presume,
rears but does not control.
This is what is called “mysterious integrity.”
15
(52)
Everything under heaven has a beginning
which may be thought of as the mother
of all under heaven.
Having realized the mother,
you thereby know her children.
Knowing her children,
go back to abide with the mother.
To the end of your life,
you will not be imperiled.
Stopple the orifices of your heart,
Close your doors;
your whole life you will not suffer.
Open the gate of your heart,
Meddle with affairs;
your whole life you will be beyond salvation.
Seeing what is small is called insight,
Abiding in softness is called strength.
Use your light to return to insight,
Be not an inheritor of personal calamity.
This is called “following the constant.”
16
(53)
If I were possessed of the slightest knowledge,
traveling on the great Way,
My only fear would be to go astray.
The great Way is quite level,
but the people are much enamored of mountain trails.
The court is thoroughly deserted,
The fields are choked with weeds,
The granaries are altogether empty.
Still there are some who
wear clothes with fancy designs and brilliant colors,
sharp swords hanging at their sides,
are sated with food,
overflowing with possessions and wealth.
This is called “the brazenness of a bandit.”
The brazenness of a bandit is surely not the Way!
17
(54)
What is firmly established cannot be uprooted;
What is tightly embraced cannot slip away.