but to act is to fail to control is to lose therefore the sage doesn't act he thus doesn't fail he doesn't control he thus doesn't lose
when people pursue a task they always fail near the end care at the end as well as the start means an end to failure
the sage thus seeks what no one seeks he doesn't prize hard to-get-goods he studies what no one studies he turns to what others pass by to help all things be natural he thus dares not act
65
The ancient masters of the Way tried not to enlighten but to keep men in the dark
what makes the people hard to rule is knowledge who rules the realm with knowledge spreads evil in the realm who rules without knowledge spreads virtue in the realm
who understands these two understands the universal key this is called Dark Virtue
Dark Virtue goes deep goes far goes the other way until it reaches perfect harmony
66
The reason the sea can govern a hundred rivers is because it has mastered being lower thus it can govern a hundred rivers
thus if the sage would be above the people he should speak as if he were below them if he would be before them he should act as though he were behind them
thus when the sage is above the people are not burdened when he is in front the people are not hindered the world never wearies of pushing him forward
because he doesn't struggle no one can struggle against him
67
The world calls me great great but useless because I am great I am useless if I were of use I would have stayed small
but I possess three treasures I treasure and uphold first is compassion second is austerity third is reluctance to excel
because I am compassionate I can be valiant because I am austere I can be extravagant because I am reluctant to excel I can be chief of all tools
if I renounced compassion for valour austerity for extravagance reluctance for supremacy I would die
compassion wins every battle and outlasts every attack what Heaven creates let compassion protect
68
In ancient times the perfect officer wasn't armed the perfect warrior wasn't angry
the perfect victor wasn't hostile the perfect commander acted humble
this is the virtue of nonaggression this is using the strength of others this is uniting with Heaven which was the ancient end
69
In warfare there is a saying rather than a host better to be a guest rather than advance an inch better to retreat a foot
this means to form no column to wear no armour to brandish no weapon to repulse no enemy
no fate is worse than to have no enemy without an enemy we would lose our treasure
thus when opponents are evenly matched the remorseful one prevails
70
My words are easy to understand easy to employ but no one can understand them no one can employ them
words have an ancestor deeds have a master because they have no understanding people fail to understand me rare are they who understand me thus I am exalted
the sage therefore wears coarse cloth and keeps his jade inside
71
To understand yet not understand is transcendence not to understand yet understand is affliction
the reason the sage is not afflicted is because he treats affliction as affliction hence he is not afflicted
72
When people no longer fear authority a greater authority will appear
don't restrict where people dwell don't repress how people live if they aren't repressed they won't protest
thus the sage knows himself but doesn't reveal himself he loves himself but doesn't exalt himself thus he picks this over that
73
Daring to act means death daring not to act means life
of these two one benefits one harms what Heaven hates who knows the reasons
the Way of Heaven wins easily without a fight answers wisely without a word comes quickly without a summons plans ingeniously without a thought
the Net of Heaven is all-embracing it mesh is wide but nothing escapes
74
If people no longer fear death why do we threaten to kill them
and if others fear death and still act perverse and we catch and kill them who else will dare
as long as people fear death the executioner will exist to kill in the executioner's place is to take the carpenter's place who takes the carpenter's place is bound to hurt his hands
75
The reason the people are hungry is because those above levy so many taxes thus the people are hungry
the reason the people are hard to rule is because those above are so forceful thus the people are hard to rule
the reason people think little of death is because those above think so much of life thus the people think little of death meanwhile those who do nothing to live are more esteemed than those who love life
76
When people are born they are soft and supple when they perish they are hard and stiff
when plants shoot forth they are soft and tender when they die they are withered and dry
thus it is said the hard and strong are followers of death the soft and weak are followers of life
when an army becomes strong it suffers defeat when a plant becomes hard it snaps
the hard and strong dwell below the soft and weak dwell above
77
The Way of Heaven is like stringing a bow pulling sown the high lifting up the low shortening the long lengthening the short
the Way of Heaven takes from the long and supplements the short unlike the Way of Man taking from the short and giving to the long
who can find the long and give it to the world only those who find the Way
thus the sage does not presume on what he does or claim what he achieves thus he chooses to hide his skill
78
Nothing in the world is weaker than water but against the hard and the strong nothing excels it for nothing can change it
the soft overcomes the hard the weak overcomes the strong this is something everyone knows but no one is able to practice
thus the sage declares who accepts a country's disgrace we call the lord of soil and grain who accepts a country's misfortune we call king of all under Heaven upright words sound upside down
79
In resolving a great dispute a dispute is sure to remain how can this be good
thus the sage holds the left marker he makes no claim on others
thus the virtuous oversee markers the virtueless oversee taxes
the Way of Heaven favours no one but always helps the good
80
Imagine a small state with a small population let there be labour-saving tools that aren't used let people consider death and not move far
let there be boats and carts but no reason to ride them let there be armour and weapons but no reason to employ them
let people return to the use of knots and be satisfied with their food and pleased with their clothing and content with their homes and happy with their customs
let there be a state so near people hear its dogs and chickens and live out their lives without making a visit
81
True words aren't beautiful beautiful words aren't true
the good aren't eloquent the eloquent aren't good
the wise aren't learned the learned aren't wise
the sage accumulates nothing but the more he does for others the greater his existence the more he gives to others the greater his abundance
the Way of Heaven is to help without harming the Way of the sage is to act without struggling
English_Roberts_TTK
Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse
Chinese (MWD, Guodian) - English by
Moss Roberts, 2001
1
The Way as 搘ay?bespeaks no common lasting Way,
The name as 憂ame?no common lasting name.
Absent is the name for shy and land抯 first life,
Present for the mother of all ten thousand things.
Desire ever absent:
Behold the seed germs of all things;
Desire ever present:
Behold their every finite course.
Forth together come the two
As one and the same
But differ in name.
As one, a dark recess
That probed recedes
Past that portal whence
The milling seed germs teem.
2
In every fair the world considers fair
There抯 foul;
In every good the world considers good
There抯 ill.
For what is what is not yields,
And the harder the easier consummates;
The long the short decides,
And higher lower measures;
Bronze gongs jade chimes join,
And former latter sequence form,
Ever round, and round again.
This is why the man of wisdom
Concerns himself with under-acting
And applies the lesson
Of the word unspoken,
That all ten thousand things may come forth
Without his direction,
Live through their lives
Without his possession,
And act of themselves
Unbeholden to him.
To the work he completes
He lays down no claim.
And this has everything to do
With why his claim holds always true.
3
Do not promote those who excel
And folk will have no cause to quarrel.
Prize not goods too hard to find
And people won抰 be turned to crime.
The people抯 thoughts remain subdued.
Thus under a wise man抯 rule
Blank are their minds
But full their bellies,
Meek their wills
But tough their bones.
He keeps the folk
From knowing and craving,
And the intellects
From daring to lead.
By acting himself without taking the lead
Inside his kingdom all is well ruled.
4
Ever void, Dao provides
But does not fill.
To a welling font akin,
The living myriad抯 sacred source
Is like the darkness of the deep;
There its living presence bides.
Child of whom I cannot tell,
Liken it to the ancestor of ancestors.
5
Heaven and earth refuse kin-kindness:
Treating all things as dogs of straw.
Wise rulers too refuse kin-kindness:
Taking gentlefolk as dogs of straw.
The space that heaven and earth frame
Works like a kiln-bellows and airpipes,
Which thought emptying is not exhausted,
And activated, pours more forth.
A ruler抯 swiftly spent who speaks too much;
Better for him to guard his inner state.
6
The valley抯 daemons never die,
The valley called the dark world womb;
The portal of the dark world womb
They call the tree root of sky and land.
A hidden yet seeming presence,
Use it and stay strong.
7
The heavens last, the earth endures.
And the reason why they do?
By disowning what they yield,
Heaven can last and earth endure.
So, surely, does the world-wise lord,
Who puts his interest far behind
And ends up in the lead,
Who puts his interest to the side
And ends up safe and whole.
Is it not so:
That having nothing to own
He can achieve his goal?
8
Perfect mastery works like water:
A boon to every living creature,
In adverse relation never;
At home where most can abide,
Closest to the Way it lies.
For position, favour lower ground:
For thought, profundity;
For engaging, gentility;
For speaking, credibility;
For ruling, authority;
For service, capability;
For action, suitability.
Avoiding confrontation
Eliminates accusation.
There is no other way.
9
Desist before the vessel overruns.
Honed too sharp no blade retains its edge.
Treasure-filled no room remains secure.
Pride in wealth and place yields retribution.
揟asks complete, doers retreat?
Such is heaven抯 way.
10
The new-moon soul aborning holds to oneness;
Can you keep it from being divided?
To center all breath-energy, to work gently
Can you keep as if newborn?
To purify the eye within
Can you keep without strain?
To care for the people and rule the kingdom
Must you not master under-acting?
Midst ebb and flow from heaven抯 gates
Must you not play the female part?
For your vision to reach all quarters
Must you not be unknowing?
Through giving birth and care
Dao gives life without possessing,
Performs without obligating,
Presides without controlling:
Such is the meaning of 揾idden power.?br>
11
Thirty spokes join the wheel nave
And make of void and form a pair,
And a wagon抯 put to use.
Clay is thrown to shape a vase
And make of void and form a pair,
And a vessel抯 put to use.
Boor and window vent a room
And make of void and form a pair,
And a room is put to use.
Thus the value of what is
Depends for use on what is not.
12
The five colours bring blindness,
The five tones deafness,
The five flavours loss of savour,
Racing and hunting gloss of reason,
And rare goods shameless action.
When wise men govern this is why
They favour the belly, not the eye,
The one accept, the other deny.
13
揂t favour (as disgrace) take fright:
Honours to the self bring woe.?br> 揈xplain 慉t favour (as disgrace) take fright.挃
揥hat could be more dire than favour?
Its gain ?or loss ?betokens danger.
Such is the meaning.?br> 揈xplain 慔onours to the self bring woe.挃
搊ur selves are why we suffer harm;
Without them what harm would there be?
So to the one
Who honours self above the world
Confide its care;
To the one
Who holds the self more dear than it
Entrust its care.?br>
14
Something looked for but not seen,
Or listened for, not heard,
Or reached for, not found:
Call one 揹im? one 揻aint? one 搒light,?br> Not for summons nor for challenge.
Combined these three make one ?br> The One, the foremost number,
When daylit sky and dark of night
Have yet to be.
Through this One all living forms coil forth
Helter-skelter ?how else to name it? ?br> Only to go round home again
TO their unbodied state:
Form before form,
Guises of the unbodied,
Or gleams in a dim void.
Who can engage them?
Who find the foremost?
Who can pursue them?
Who find the last?
Hold fast to the Way of ancient days
To guide us through our present world;
To know how things began of old
Is to be grounded in the Way.
