Thirty spokes connect to the wheel's hub;
yet, it is the center hole
that makes it useful.
Clay is shaped into a vessel;
yet, it is the emptiness within
that makes it useful.
Doors and windows are cut for a room;
yet it is the space where there is nothing
that makes it useful.
Therefore, though advantage comes from what is;
usefulness comes from what is not.
12
The five colors blind the eye.
The five notes deafen the ear.
The five flavors dull the palate.
Racing and hunting drive the heart wild.
Goods that are hard to obtain hinder the journey.
Therefore, the True Person
is guided more by the belly than the eye,
and prefers this within to that without. %~~
13
Both favor and disgrace bring fear.
Great trouble comes from having a body.
What is meant by:
"Both favor and disgrace bring fear"?
Favor leads to a fear of losing it and
disgrace leads to a fear of greater trouble.
What is meant by:
"Great trouble comes from having a body"?
The reason you have trouble is that
you are self-conscious.
No trouble can befall a self-free person.
Therefore, surrender your self-interest.
Love others as much as you love yourself.
Then you can be entrusted with all things under heaven.
14
Look at it, you cannot see it.
It is invisible.
Listen to it, you cannot hear it.
It is inaudible.
Reach for it, you cannot grasp it.
It is intangible.
These three qualities are unfathomable
and so they fuse together and become one.
The upper part is not bright.
The lower part is not dark.
Ceaselessly the Unnamed moves back to nothingness.
It has the form of the formless,
the image of the imageless.
It is indefinable and shadowy.
Go up to it and you will not see its front.
Follow it and you will not see its back.
Yet, hold fast to this ancient Tao and
you will experience the present now-moment.
Know its beginnings and
you can follow the path of the Tao.
15
The ancient followers of the Tao
were subtle, mysterious, and penetrating.
They were too deep to be fathomed.
All we can do is describe their appearance.
Hesitant, as if crossing a winter stream.
Watchful, as if aware of neighbors on all sides.
Respectful, like a visiting guest.
Yielding, like ice beginning to melt.
Simple, like an uncarved block.
Open, like a valley.
Obscure, like muddy water.
Who else can be still and let the muddy water
slowly become clear?
Who else can remain at rest and slowly come to life?
Those who hold fast to the Tao
do not try to fill themselves to the brim.
Because thev do not try to be full
they can be worn out and yet ever new.
16
Empty everything out;
hold fast to your stillness.
Even though all things are stirring together,
watch for the movement of return.
The ten thousand things flourish and then
each returns to the root from which it came.
Returning to the root is stillness.
Through stillness each fulfills its destiny.
That which has fulfilled its destiny
becomes part of the Always-so.
To be aware of the Always-so is to awaken.
Those who innovate while in ignorance of the Always-so
move toward disaster.
Those who act wirh awareness of the Always-so
embrace all, are not possessed by particular desire
and move toward the Tao.
Those who are at one with the Tao abide forever.
Even after their bodies waste away,
they are safe and whole.
17
The best leader is one whose existence
is barely known by the people.
Next comes one whom they love and praise.
Next comes one they fear.
Next comes one they defy.
If you do not trust enough, you will not be trusted.
True Persons do not offer words lightly.
When their task is accomplished
and their work is completed,
the people say, "It happened to us naturally."
18
When the great Tao is forgotten,
benevolence and moral codes arise.
When shrewdness and cleverness appear,
great hypocrisy follows.
When there is no harmony in the family,
filial manners are developed
When the country is in disorder,
ministers appear as loyal servants.
19
Stop being learned and your troubles will end.
Give up wisdom, discard cleverness,
and the people will benefit a hundredfold.
Give up benevolence, discard moral judgments, .'~
and the people will rediscover natural compassion.
Give up shrewdness, discard gain,
and thieves and robbers will disappear.
These three false adornments are not enough to live by.
They must give way to something more solid.
Look for what is simple and hold onto the Uncarved Block.
Diminish thoughts of self and restrain desires.
20
How great is the difference between "yea" and "yeah"?
How great is the distinction between "good" and "evil"?
Must I fear what others fear? How silly!
Everyone else is joyous as if enjoying the greatest feast,
or going up the terraces in spring.
I alone am drifting without direction,
like a baby who has not yet smiled.
I alone am moping as if I had no home.
Everyone else has more than they need,
I alone seem in want.
I have the mind of a fool, how confused I am!
Other people are bright and clever,
I alone am dark.
Other people are alert and self-assured,
If alone am dull and muddled.
I am unsettled like the waves of the sea,
like the restless wind.
Everyone else has a purpose,
I alone am stubborn and awkward.
I am different from other people,
Even so, I am nourished by the Great
21
The Great Virtue is to follow the Tao and only the Tao.
The Tao is shadowy and intangible.
Intangible and evasive, and yet within it is a form.
Evasive and intangible, and yet within it is a substance.
Shadowy and dark, and vet within it is a vital force.
This vital force is real and can be relied upon.
From ancient times to the present the Tao's instructions
have not been forgotten.
Through it can be perceived the beginning of the story
of life.
How do I know how it was at the beginning of the story
of life?
Because of what is within me.
22
Yield and overcome;
bend and be straight.
Empty out and be full;
wear out and be renewed.
Have little and gain;
have much and be confused.
Therefore, the True Person embraces the One
and becorrles a model for all.
Do not look only at yourself,
and you will see much.
Do not justify yourself,
and you will be distinguished.
Do not brag,
and you will have merit.
Do not be prideful,
and your work will endure.
It is because you do not strive
that no one under heaven can strive with you.
The saying of the Old Ones, "Yield and Overcome,"
is not an empty phrase.
True wholeness is achieved
by blending with life.
23
To talk little is to follow nature.
A whirlwind does not last all morning.
A sudden shower does not last all day.
Who produces these things?
Heaven and earth!
Even heaven and earth cannot make
wild things last long.
How then can people hope to do so?
People of the Tao
conform to the Tao.
People of Virtue
conform to Virtue.
People who lose the way
conform to the loss.
Those who conform to the Tao
are welcomed into the Tao.
Those who conform to Virtue
are welcomed into Virtue.
Those who conform to the loss
are welcomed into the loss.
Those who do not trust enough
will not be trusted.
24
The person on tiptoe is not steady.
The person with legs astride cannot walk.
Those who look only at thernselves see little.
Those who justify themselves are not distinguished.
Those who brag have no merit.
The work of prideful people will not endure.
From the standpoint of the Tao,
these things are
"excessive food and tumors of the body."
As they bring sickness, followers of the Tao do not linger aroundthem.
25
Something formless yet complete,
existing before heaven and earth.
Silent and limitless,
it stands alone and does not change.
Reaching everywhere, it does not tire.
Perhaps it is the Mother of all things under heaven.
I do not know its name
so I call it "Tao."
When I have to describe it I call it "great."
Being great it flows.
It flows far away.
Having gone far away, it returns.
Therefore, the Tao is great.
Heaven is great.
Earth is great.
People are also great.
Thus, people constitute one of the
four great things of the universe.
People conform to the earth.
The earth conforms to heaven.
Heaven conforms to the Tao.
The Tao conforms to its own nature.
26
Whe solid must be the root of the light.
The still must be the master of thc restless.
Therefore, wise people when traveling all day
do not lose sight of their baggage cart.
Although there are beautiful scenes to see,
they remain quietly in their own place.
Should a lord of ten thousand chariots
appear more frivolous than a simple traveler?
To be light is to lose the root.
To be restless is to lose the master.
27
A skillful traveler leaves no track.
A skillful speaker makes no slip.
A skillful reckoner needs no counting rod.
A skillfully made door requires no bolts,
yet it cannot be opened.
A skillful binding has no cords or knots,
yet it cannot be untied.
Therefore, the True Person is skillful in assisting people,
and abandons nobody;
In skillful in assisting things,
and abandons nothing.
This is called "Following the lnner Light."
Therefore, the skillful person is the teacher
of the person without skill.
The person withont skill is the material
for the skillfirl person.
If you do not respect the teacher,
if you do not care for the material,
you are on the road to confusion
and your cleverness will not save you.
This is an essential principle.
28
Develop the strength of a man,
but live as gently as a woman.
Become a brook and receive all things under heaven.
If you are such a brook
then Virtue will constantly flow into you
and you will become a simple child again.
Know thew pure
but live the life of the sullied.
Become a fountain to all things under heaven.
If you bccome such a fountain
then you will have abundant Virtue
and you will return to the state of the Uncarved Block.
When the Uncarved Block is cut up into pieces,
it is turned into specialized instruments.
But the True Person makes use of it whole
and becomes the master of the instruments.
Hence, it is said, "The finest carver cuts little."
29
Whoever wishes to take over the world
will not succeed.
The world is a sacred vessel
and nothing should be done to it.
Whoever tries to tamper with it
will mar it.
Whoever tries to grab it
will lose it.
Hence, there is a time to go ahead
and a tirne to stay behind.
There is a time to breathe easy
and a time to breathe hard.
There is a tirne to be vigorous
and a tirrle to be gentle.
There is a tine to gather
and a time to release.
Therefore, the True Person avoids extremes,
self-indulgence, and extravagance.
30
If you would assist leaders of people
by way of the Tao,
you will oppose the use of armed force to overpower
the world.
Those who use weapons will be harmed by them.
Where troops have camped only thorn bushes grow.
Bad harvests follow in the wake of a great army.
The skillful person strikes the blow and stops,
without taking advantage of victory.
Bring it to a conclusion but do not be vain.
Bring it to a conclusion but do not be boastful.
Bring it to a conclusion but do not be arrogant.
Bring it to a conclusion but only when there is no choice.
Bring it to a conclusion but without violence.
When force is rlsed, youthful strength decays.
This is not the way of Tao.
And that which goes against the Tao
will quickly pass away.
31
Weapons are ill-omened things.
Among gentle people the left side
is the place of honor when at home,
but in war the right side is the place of honor.
Weapons are not proper instruments for gentle people;
they use them only when they have no other choice.
Peace and quiet are what they value.
They do not glory in victory.
to glorify it is to delight in the slaughter of people.
Those who delight in the slaughter of people will
never thrive among all that dwell under heaven.
The army that has killed people
should be received with sorrow.
Conquerors should be received with the rites of mourning.
32
The Tao is forever nameless.
Though the Uncarved Block is small,
it is not inferior to anything under heaven.
lf leaders could keep hold of it,
the ten thousand things would submit to them freely.
Heaven and earth would unite and sweet dew would fall.
The people would live in harmony
without any law or decree.
Only when the Block is carved are there names.
As soon as there are names
it is timc to stop.
Knowing when to stop prevents trouble.
All under heaven will return to the Tao
as brooks and streams flow home to the sea.
33
Knowing others is to be clever.
Knowing yourself is to be enlightened.
