1:1 The Way that can be put into words is not the constant Way.
2:1 As soon as everyone in the world knows beauty as beauty, there is already ugliness. 2 As soon as everyone knows good as good, there is bad.
2:3 Being and nonbeing produce each other; 4 difficult and easy complete each other; 5 long and short shape each other; 6 high and low fill each other; 7 note and voice harmonize with each other; 8 front and back follow each other: 9 these are constant.
2:10 Therefore, the sage dwells in the work of nonforced action, 11 and practices wordless teaching. 12 All things arise, but he doesnʼt start them; 13 he acts on their behalf, but doesnʼt make them dependent; 14 he succeeds, but doesnʼt dwell on it. 15 Itʼs only because he doesnʼt dwell on it, that it doesnʼt leave.
3:1 By not elevating the worthy, you keep the people from contention. 2 By not valuing rare treasures, you keep the people from stealing. 3 By not displaying what is desirable, you keep the people from confusion.
3:4 Therefore, the sage governs by clearing the peopleʼs minds, but filling their bellies; weakening their ambitions, but strengthening their bones.
3:5 He constantly keeps the people without cunning and without desires 6 so that the intellectuals wonʼt dare to meddle. 7 Act without forcing, then everything is governed properly.
7:5 The sage puts himself in the background yet finds himself in the foreground; 6 puts himself out of mind yet finds himself cared for. 7 Isnʼt it because heʼs selfless that 8 heʼs able to achieve his self-interest?
8:1 The highest good is like water. 2 Waterʼs goodness is that it benefits all things, 3 yet it strives to dwell in the places that the crowd hates, 4 therefore it comes close to the Way.
8:6 In a dwelling, its goodness is location; 7 in a mind, depth; 8 in giving, being like Heaven; 9 in speaking, sincerity; 10 in government, order; 11 in handling affairs, ability; 12 in action, timeliness.
8:13 Because there is no contention, there is no blame.
9:1 If you hold and overfill a cup, itʼs not as good as stopping short. 2 If you hammer and oversharpen a blade, you canʼt maintain it for long. 3 If gold and jade fill your rooms, no one is able to protect it. 4 If status and wealth lead to arrogance, you bring disaster upon yourself.
9:5 When the work is done, withdraw; this is the Way of Heaven.
11:1 Thirty spokes come together at one hub, 2 but itʼs the emptiness inside the hub that makes it useful to the cart. 3 We form clay into a pot, 4 but itʼs the emptiness inside that makes the clay pot useful. 5 We chisel out doors and windows to make a room, 6 but itʼs the emptiness inside that makes the room useful.
11:7 Therefore, what is present brings benefit, 8 but what is absent makes it useful.
15:1 In antiquity, those who were good at the Way 2 were subtle, wonderful, mysterious, penetrating, and too deep to know. 3 Because they canʼt be known, weʼre forced to describe their appearance: 4 Hesitant, as if crossing a river in winter. 5 Alert, as if fearing the neighbors on all sides. 6 Solemn, like a visiting guest. 7 Yielding, like ice about to melt. 8 Genuine, like uncarved wood. 9 Opaque, like muddy water. 10 Vast, like a valley.
15:11 If muddy water is still, it gradually becomes clear. 12 If something at rest is moved, it gradually comes to life.
17:1 With the very best rulers, those below only know that the rulers exist, 2 the next best are the rulers they love and praise, 3 next are the rulers they fear, 4 and the worst are the rulers they despise.
17:7 When the task is accomplished and the work is done, all the common people say, “We did it ourselves.”
18:1 Itʼs when the great Way is abandoned that benevolence and righteousness appear. 2 Itʼs when learning and cleverness emerge that the great hypocrisy appears. 3 Itʼs when family relationships are not harmonious that filial piety and parental compassion appear. 4 Itʼs when the country is confused and chaotic that upright officials appear.
19:5 Demonstrate plainness, embrace simplicity, have little selfishness and few desires.
22:1 Bent over then preserved whole; 2 crooked then straight; 3 hollow then filled; 4 worn out then renewed; 5 having little then satisfied; 6 having much then confused. 7 Therefore, the sage holds to the one and becomes shepherd to the world.
22:8 He doesnʼt promote himself, so heʼs acknowledged. 9 He doesnʼt display himself, so he shines brightly. 10 He doesnʼt brag about himself, so he has merit. 11 Heʼs not boastful, so he can endure. 12 Itʼs only because he doesnʼt contend that no one can contend with him.
23:1 Itʼs natural to speak rarely. 2 A violent wind doesnʼt last all morning. 3 A torrential rain doesnʼt last all day. 5 If heaven and earth canʼt sustain it for long, how much less can man?
24:1 He who blows hard canʼt stand. 2 He who promotes himself isnʼt acknowledged. 3 He who displays himself doesnʼt shine brightly. 5 He who brags about himself has no merit. 6 He who boasts about himself wonʼt endure. 8 These are so despised that even those who want things donʼt abide them.
27:1 A skillful traveler leaves no ruts or tracks. 2 A skillful speaker makes no slips or gaffes. 3 A skillful counter needs no tallies or papers.
27:6 The sage is always skillful at saving people, and never abandons anyone; 7 with things, he never abandons valuable property.
27:9 Skillful people are the teachers of skillful people; 10 unskilled people are the raw materials of skillful people. 11 He who doesnʼt value his teacher and cherish his raw materials is greatly confused, no matter how clever he is.
29:1 Those who want to take the world and rule it, 2 I see that they wonʼt succeed. 3 The world is a sacred vessel, 4 and it canʼt be ruled. 5 Those who rule it ruin it. 6 Those who hold it lose it.
29:7 Itʼs the nature of things that some lead and some follow, 8 some blow hot and some blow cold, 9 some are strong and some are weak, 10 some cultivate and some deteriorate. 11 Therefore the sage avoids extremes, arrogance, and extravagance.
30:1 Those with the Way who assist the ruler donʼt use the force of arms to conquer the world; 2 such methods would only backfire. 3 Wherever armies camp, brambles and thorns will grow.
30:5 A skillful leader achieves results then stops, 6 and doesnʼt use the occasion to sieze power. 7 He achieves results without arrogance. 8 He achieves results without praising his deeds. 9 He achieves results without boasting. 10 He achieves results only as a last resort.
31:1 The military is an ominous instrument. 2 Itʼs so despised that even those who want things donʼt abide it.
31:5 The military is an ominous instrument, 6 so only use it as a last resort; 7 with calm detachment is best. 8 Donʼt glorify it; 9 to glorify it would be to delight in killing people. 10 He who delights in killing people canʼt achieve his ambitions in the world. 16 When many people have been killed, 17 weep for them with sorrow. 18 When the war has been won, treat it like a funeral ceremony.
33:1 He who knows others is intelligent; 2 he who knows himself is enlightened. 3 He who overcomes others is forceful; 4 he who overcomes himself is powerful. 5 He who knows contentment is rich.
34:1 The Way floats and drifts; 2 it can go left or right. 4 When the task is accomplished and the work is done, it claims no credit.
34:5 All things turn to it 6 and yet it doesnʼt act as their master, 8 so it can be called a small thing.
34:9 All things turn to it 10 and yet it doesnʼt act as their master, 11 so it can be called a great thing.
34:12 Thatʼs why the sage is able to accomplish great things: 13 he doesnʼt try to do great things, therefore he accomplishes great things.
35:3 Coming to you, the world suffers no harm, but finds safety and peace.
35:4 Passing travelers will stop for music and food. 5 But if the Way were described, 6 it would seem insipid and without flavor. 7 When you look at it, itʼs not sufficient to be seen; 8 when you listen to it, itʼs not sufficient to be heard; 9 yet when you use it, it canʼt be exhausted.
36:1 If you want to shrink something, 2 it must first be expanded; 3 if you want to weaken something, 4 it must first be strengthened; 5 if you want to leave something, 6 it must first be joined; 7 if you want to take something away, 8 it must first be given.
38:1 A man of superior virtue doesnʼt cling to virtue, 2 therefore he has true virtue. 5 A man of superior virtue acts without force, 6 and without an agenda.
38:16 After losing the Way there is virtue; 17 after losing virtue there is benevolence; 18 after losing benevolence there is righteousness; 19 after losing righteousness there is propriety.
38:20 As for propriety, itʼs a thin veneer of loyalty and sincerity, 21 and the beginning of disorder.
38:24 Therefore, a truly great man dwells in the thick substance, 25 not in the thin veneer; 26 in the fruit, not in the flower.
43:1 The softest, most pliable thing in the world 2 runs roughshod over the hardest, most solid thing in the world. 3 That which has no substance enters into that which has no openings. 4 Thatʼs how I know the benefits of nonforced action.
43:5 Teachings that use no words, 6 and the benefits of nonforced action: 7 few in the world can understand them.
44:4 Excessive attachment comes at great cost, 5 and great accumulation leads to heavy loss. 6 Therefore, knowing contentment avoids disgrace, 7 and knowing when to stop avoids danger; 8 thus you can endure for a long time.
46:1 When the world has the Way, 2 fine horses are relegated to fertilizing the fields. 3 When the world lacks the Way, 4 warhorses are bred just outside the city walls.
46:5 There is no greater crime than desire; 6 no greater disaster than being discontent; 7 no greater fault than wanting more. 8 Therefore, the satisfaction that comes from being content is lasting satisfaction.
47:1 You donʼt have to go out the door to know the world. 2 You donʼt have to peek out the window to know the Way of Heaven. 3 The farther you go, the less you know.
47:4 Therefore the sage doesnʼt travel but knows; 5 doesnʼt look, but discerns; 6 and doesnʼt do, but succeeds.
48:1 He who pursues learning gains something each day. 2 He who hears the Way loses something each day. 3 He loses, and loses again, until he acts without force. 4 He acts without force and yet nothing is left undone.
48:5 If you want to rule the world, constantly avoid interfering with it. 6 If you interfere, youʼre unfit to rule the world.
49:1 The sage constantly has no mind of his own. 2 He takes the mind of the people as his mind.
49:3 Heʼs good to good people 4 and also good to bad people, 5 thus he gains in goodness. 6 He trusts trustworthy people 7 and also trusts untrustworthy people, 8 thus he gains in trust.
53:1 If I had the least bit of knowledge, 2 I would walk on the great Way 3 and my only fear would be straying from it. 4 The great Way is very much level, 5 but people very much prefer mountain trails.
53:6 The court is full of splendor, 7 but the fields are full of weeds, 8 and the granaries are full of nothing; 9 their clothes are embroidered and colorful, 10 their belts have sharp swords, 11 theyʼre stuffed with food, 12 and have money and possessions in excess: 13 this is called robbery, 14 and robbery is certainly not the Way.
56:1 Those who know it, donʼt talk about it; 2 those who talk about it, donʼt know it.
57:1 Govern the state with justice, 2 deploy the military with surprise, 3 and take the world without interference. 4 How do I know this? From the following:
57:5 The world has many prohibitions and taboos, 6 and yet the people are full of poverty. 7 The people have many beneficial tools, 8 and yet the state and family are increasingly faint. 9 People have many clever tricks, 10 and yet strange things increasingly happen. 11 The laws are increasingly publicized, 12 and yet there are many thieves and robbers.
57:13 Therefore, in the words of the sage: 14 “I act without force, and the people transform themselves. 15 I enjoy quiet, and the people correct themselves. 16 I donʼt intefere, and the people prosper themselves. 17 I have no desires, and the people simplify themselves.”
58:5 Good fortune perches on misfortune; 6 misfortune lurks beneath good fortune. 7 Who knows where it will end?
58:8 Nothing is obvious. 9 Obvious again becomes surprising; 10 good again becomes monstrous. 11 The people have been confused for a long time.
59:1 In governing the people and serving Heaven, 2 there is nothing like frugality. 3 Only with frugality can you submit early. 4 Submitting early is called repeatedly accumulating virtue. 5 If you repeatedly accumulate virtue, then there is nothing you canʼt overcome.
62:2 The Way is the treasure of a good man, 3 and the shelter of a bad man.
62:6 Even if a man is bad, how can you abandon him?
62:7 At the emperorʼs coronation, 9 offering jade discs brought in by a team of horses 10 is not as good as sitting still and offering this Way.
62:11 Why was this Way so valuable to the ancients? 12 Isnʼt it said, “Those who seek, with this will obtain, 13 and those who have guilt, with this will escape”? 14 Therefore itʼs the most valuable thing in the world.
63:1 Act without forcing, 2 serve without interfering, 3 savor the flavorless, 4 consider the small as great and the few as many, 5 respond to resentment with virtue.
63:6 Plan for something difficult while itʼs still easy. 7 Deal with something great while itʼs still small. 8 The difficult things of the world start off easy. 9 The great things of the world start off small. 10 Therefore, the sage never does great things, 11 and thus he is able to accomplish great things.
63:12 He who makes promises lightly is sure to have little trust, 13 and he who treats many things as easy is sure to have many difficulties. 14 Therefore, the sage treats things as difficult, 15 and thus, in the end, nothing is difficult.
64:1 Itʼs easy to hold whatʼs at rest. 2 Itʼs easy to plan for what hasnʼt begun. 3 Itʼs easy to break what is brittle. 4 Itʼs easy to scatter what is tiny. 5 Deal with it before it happens; 6 manage it before itʼs chaotic.
64:7 A tree thatʼs thick enough to embrace rises from a tiny shoot. 8 A terrace thatʼs nine stories tall rises from a heap of earth. 9 A wall thatʼs three hundred yards high begins at the ground beneath your feet.
64:10 Those who rule it ruin it. 11 Those who hold it lose it. 12 Therefore, the sage rules nothing and thus ruins nothing. 13 He holds on to nothing and thus loses nothing.
64:14 People usually fail in their endeavors on the verge of success. 15 Therefore we say, “If youʼre as careful at the end as you are at the beginning, 16 youʼll have no failure.”
64:17 The sage desires not to desire, 18 and doesnʼt value goods that are hard to obtain; 19 he learns not to study, 20 and returns to what the multitude has passed over. 21 He could help all things to be natural, 22 but dares not do it.
66:1 The rivers and lakes are able to be the kings of the valleys 2 because of their skill at being low. 4 Therefore, wanting to be above the people, the sage must speak to them humbly from below; 5 wanting to be before the people, he must put himself behind them. 6 Therefore, he dwells above them yet the people donʼt feel that heʼs a burden. 7 He dwells before them yet the people donʼt feel that heʼs an obstruction. 8 Everyone in the world delights in promoting him and never tires of him.
66:9 Itʼs because he doesnʼt contend 10 that no one in the world can contend with him.
67:4 I constantly have three treasures which I hold and treasure: 5 the first is compassion, 6 the second is frugality, 7 the third is not daring to be preeminent in the world. 8 Itʼs because of compassion that I can be courageous; 9 itʼs because of frugality that I can be generous; 10 itʼs because of not daring to be preeminent in the world that I can be head of all things.
67:11 Now, abandoning compassion to be courageous, 12 abandoning frugality to be generous, 13 abandoning the rear to be in front: 14 this is courting death.
68:1 A skillful warrior doesnʼt show his might. 2 A skillful fighter doesnʼt get angry. 3 A skillful victor doesnʼt engage his enemy. 4 A skillful employer places himself below others.
73:1 Those who are brave in daring will die; 2 those who are brave in caution will live. 3 In these two cases, one is beneficial and the other is harmful. 4 Who understands why Heaven hates what it does?
73:6 The Way of Heaven doesnʼt fight yet wins skillfully, 7 doesnʼt speak yet responds skillfully, 8 isnʼt summoned yet comes on its own, 9 is at ease yet plans skillfully.
73:10 The net of Heaven is vast; it has a coarse mesh yet nothing slips through.
75:1 The people starve because those above consume too much in taxes. 2 The people rebel because those above interfere. 3 The people scoff at death because those above demand so much from life.
76:1 While living, a man is supple and soft, 2 but once dead, he is hard and rigid. 3 While living, all things, grasses, and trees are supple and crisp, 4 but once dead, they are withered and dry.
76:5 Therefore it is said: those who are hard and rigid are the followers of death; 6 those who are supple and soft are the followers of life. 7 Therefore, a rigid army wonʼt win, 8 and a rigid tree will snap.
77:1 The Way of Heaven is like an archer drawing his bow. 2 If itʼs too high, he presses down; if itʼs too low, he lifts up; 3 if there is excess, he reduces it; 4 if there is not enough, he adds to it. 5 The Way of Heaven is also to reduce what has excess and add to what doesnʼt have enough.
77:6 The Way of man is different: 7 he reduces what doesnʼt have enough and offers it to that which has excess.
77:8 Who can have excess and offer it to Heaven? 9 Only he who has the Way.
77:10 Therefore, the sage takes actions without claiming the results; 11 he succeeds without dwelling on it; 12 similarly, he doesnʼt desire to make a display of his worthiness.
79:1 When harmony is made after great resentment, 2 there is always some resentment remaining. 3 How can this be considered good? 4 Therefore, the sage keeps his part of the contract, but makes no demands on the other party.
79:7 The Way of Heaven has no favorites, 8 itʼs constantly on the side of the good man.
80:1 Let there be a small state with few people. 2 Let them have powerful tools and not use them. 3 Let the people take death seriously and not migrate far away. 4 There are boats and vehicles but no reason to ride them. 5 There are armor and weapons but no reason to parade them. 6 Let the people keep their records with knotted string again. 7 Their food is sweet, 8 their clothes are beautiful, 9 their homes are secure, 10 and their customs are enjoyable.
80:11 Neighboring states can see each other, 12 they can hear each otherʼs dogs and roosters, 13 yet the people grow old and die 14 without any dealings between each other.
81:1 Credible words arenʼt eloquent; 2 eloquent words arenʼt credible. 3 The skillful arenʼt polymaths; 4 those who are polymaths arenʼt skillful. 5 Those who know arenʼt learned; 6 the learned donʼt know.
81:7 The sage accumulates nothing. 8 The more he does for others, the greater his possessions. 9 The more he gives to others, the greater his abundance.
81:10 Therefore, the Way of Heaven is to benefit without harming. 11 The Way of the sage is to act without contending.
© 2024 Michael Hendricks
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