And in integrity and life and loss can be found the root of treasures.
Thus it is that a contented person is never ashamed of what they have,
Having self-restraint he can avoid trouble,
In this way he can endure long, and live contentedly.
45
The masters greatest perfection seems imperfect, yet when used it is inexhaustible,
The masters' greatest fullness appears empty, yet it can continue giving without end.
The masters' greatest straightness appears crooked, yet it is upright and righteous.
The masters' greatest skill appears rustic and clumsy, yet it works with unparalleled accuracy.
The masters' greatest eloquence appears as tongue-tied stammering, yet he teaches without words.
The masters' movement conquers cold,
The masters' stillness conquers heat,
The stillness and tranquility of the master conquers the world.
46
When the world is in accord with the Tao horses work and fertilize the fields with their droppings,
When The Way is forgotten, warhorses are bred and feed on the people's autumn harvest in the parks of the suburbs.
There is no worse calamity than desire,
There is no greater misery than knowing no contentment,
There is no greater catastrophe than losing self-control.
Contentment can come from realizing one has enough,
Attaining contentment, one can attain internal peace.
47
One can open oneself to the world without leaving the house,
Without looking out the window one can know the way of Heaven.
The further one goes and the more knowledge one accumulates, the less one knows.
With this way; the master knows and experiences without traveling,
Observes clearly without seeing,
And accomplishes much without doing anything.
48
Common learning consists in adding something new each day,
In pursuit of the Tao, every day something is dropped.
Day after day something else is lost, until one reaches the point where one is able to do much by doing nothing.
Less and less you know and desire, until you reach the state of non-action.
By not striving to control the world, it offers itself to you.
You cannot master the world by trying to enforce change on it.
49
The master has no subjective conceptions,
His heart is open to the people.
He is kind to the kind.
He is also kind to the unkind.
This is the true practice of kindness.
To the honest he is trusting,
To the dishonest he is also trusting,
This is the true practice of trust.
The sage appears hesitant, and lives in harmonious peace in the world,
He considers his own mind as well as that of the people.
The people look to him lending their eyes and ears, and he treats them all as his children.
50
Being born, we come into life, one day we must enter into death.
Out of ten people, three celebrate and are filled with life,
Three hasten their demise through excess,
And three pass through life without realizing it,
Why is this? They try too hard to protect and preserve this life; thereby they never learn to live.
But it is said that one in ten knows how to preserve his life by emptying himself to the world and the Way.
Such a one can go into the wilds unmolested by wild beasts;
the tigers claws and rhinoceros horns will find no place to catch him.
And he may enter battle unarmored; sharp points will find no place to pierce him.
Why is this? Because there is no place for death in him.
51
The Tao is the mother of all beings,
The virtue of Tao nurtures them in nature,
The material world gives them form,
Environment and circumstance complete their abilities.
Therefore all things honor the Way, and venerate virtue.
This honoring of the Tao, and the veneration of virtue are not commanded,
They occur spontaneously and for this reason the Way continues to create beings while virtue continues to nurture and develop them.
The Tao gives birth to all, yet it lays no claim of ownership,
It nourishes all, but it does not control,
This is the mystic virtue.
52
In the beginning was the Tao; this beginning can be considered as the mother of all.
Knowing the mother, one can come to know the children.
Knowing the children, but returning to the mother; this will keep your spirit alive through death and decay.
Keep your mouth t, close the doors of desire, and you will live a virtuous and untroubled existence.
But if you let your mouth go on, and let the desires of the world into your heart, your life will be one of unending toil and vexations.
To see the small, obscure and detailed is clarity of vision.
To live in gentleness and flexibility is strength.
Use outlook and insight, and return to clear-sightedness Then you will avoid life's troubles.
This is called cultivating consistency.
53
If I possess even the smallest bits of wisdom, I would walk the great way, and my only fear would be in straying from this great road.
The great way is wide and the going is easy, but how people seem to prefer the side paths.
When the offices of government, the palaces and temples are richly adorned, and lavishly outfitted...
when the ministers are concerned chiefly with pomp and display;
the fields will be dusty and overgrown with rank weeds, and the granaries of the land will be bare.
The gentry wear elaborate richly embroidered clothes, eat and drink in excess with their sharp swords at their sides, these are surely the robber barons. This is not in keeping with the Way.
54
What is skillfully rooted and well established cannot effortlessly be uprooted, what is well embraced cannot be easily torn away.
Hold onto the Tao firmly, and you will endure. This will pass on to your children and grandchildren also.
When virtue is cultivated in oneself, it becomes real.
When cultivated in the home, virtue will overflow.
When virtue is cultivated in the community it becomes lasting.
When cultivated in the nation, virtue becomes abundant.
When virtue is cultivated in the world, it becomes the Law of the land, and it leads to universal virtue, all pervading and all encompassing.
Therefore one can see that ones self influences the family.
The family influences the community. The community influences the nation. And the nation influences the world.
Therefore, bring virtue into your own life, and it will spread all about you, into the world.
How do I know this is true? Because I have seen virtue move and live.
55
One who is abundant in virtue is much like a newborn child; bees, scorpions and snakes will not sting or bite such a one.
Wild beasts will not sink claws into the infant, nor will birds of prey strike a blow.
Though his bones be soft, and his sinews be weak, his grip will be strong.
The infant doesn't yet know of the union between male and female,
yet this one is perfectly formed, the ultimate in vitality.
Babbling and screaming all day, he does not become hoarse; this shows the harmony of the infant.
To know virtue and harmony like this, to keep it constant, this is illumination.
To try to force life: this bodes ill. To try to exceed nature brings calamity. To try to control nature brings violence.
And things that are over luxurious, overgrown and extremely fecund are not in keeping with the Tao. These things will wither and perish.
56
Those who know of the Way do not speak of it,
Those who speak of the Way do not know it.
Close your mouth, t the doors of your desires,
blunt your sharpness, untie the tangles of your life,
dim your glare, quiet life's turmoil,
this is the Mystic Virtue.
Those achieving Mystic Virtue are not affronted or thrilled either by hate or love;
they are removed from benefit and harm; beyond care of praise or blame,
they are the true humans, unequaled under Heaven.
57
Rule the kingdom with justice. Use surprise tactics to fight a war.
But it takes letting go to win and hold the world.
How do I know it is so? Through this: -
The more restrictive the laws in the kingdom, the poorer the people will be.
The more sharp weapons the people have, the more troubled and chaotic the state will be
and the less secure the people will be.
The more clever and advanced the people, the stranger the contrivances they will invent.
Law after law promulgates robbers and thieves.
Therefore the Master says: "I will let go of the law,
and the people will act rightly of their own accord,
I will love tranquility and the people will act with righteousness."
"I will make no effort, and the people will prosper.
I will let go of all of my desires, and the people will return to native simplicity."
58
When a government is unobtrusive and tolerant the people will be happy and prosperous;
when a government is suspicious and strict the people are dissatisfied and crafty.
Good fortune is linked to calamity; misery is tied to happiness.
So who can tell when the end of this will come?
Is there no measuring-stick for the norm?
What is seen now as right and true will certainly someday be seen as wrong and false.
The people have labored under this sea of vexations for a long time.
Therefore the Master is square without sharp cutting corners.
His straightness is not strained; he is pointed without being piercing.
And he is bright but not blinding.
59
In governing the people and serving Heaven: there is nothing better than frugality.
To be frugal one must be prepared beforehand.
The accumulation of great virtue is the thing that will give you the strength to properly govern and serve.
With virtuous strength nothing is impossible.
This is spoken of this having deep roots and a firm stalk rooted in a solid foundation,
the way of long life and great insight.
60
Govern a large country in the same way you would cook a small fish; you must be delicate.
Let the spirit of the Tao govern the land, and evil spirits will have no power.
Not that the evil spirits will depart, but the effects they have on the people will be insignificant,
and the effects of the Sage on the people will also not be burdensome.
Since the spirits and the Sage do not cause harm, all will be in balance.
61
The great country may be compared to a low-lying lake where many rivers converge;
it is the mixing place of the world, the reservoir of all under heaven... the Feminine of the world.
Femininity always overcomes Masculinity, by stillness,
her tranquility gives rise to her humility.
Thus it is that the great country can win over the small country by this practicing of stillness and humility.
And the small state by the practice of humility and deference to the large country can gain the large country and become one with it.
So it is said that by practice of quiescence and humility the great can absorb and conquer the small without effort,
and the small and insignificant can gain riches and treasure by submitting to the great.
The great state wishes to keep and nourish its people, and help others.
The small state wishes to help its people by joining with the peace and strength of the larger state.
Both states get what they wish by submitting.
Greatness lies in placing oneself below.
62
The Way is sanctuary: the mysterious secret of the universe.
It is the treasure of peaceful people and the bad man's refuge.
Honors can be bought with flattery and fine words;
admiration can be procured through good deeds.
But the Tao does not abandon even the sinner.
Therefore when the Emperor is crowned, and the three ministers appointed,
do not offer gifts of jade and fine horses, offer instead the lessons and learning of the Tao.
Why is it the ancient Masters esteemed the Tao?
It is because one who looked for it could find it.
And the guilty find forgiveness through it.
For these reasons it is truly the treasure of the world.
63
The Tao can accomplish much without interfering,
it can achieve without forcing,
it can taste the tasteless.
Large or small, many or few,
repay hatred and injury with virtue and compassion.
Accomplish the hard task while it is still easy.
Handle large affairs while they are still small.
For even the most difficult and large of tasks and affairs have a point where they are still easy and small.
Thus it is that the Master never does anything hard or large,
yet he is able to accomplish a great many things.
A rashly made promise oftentimes is not carried through.
And those who think all will be easy do not prepare, and find the way difficult.
So the sage regards all things as being difficult, he prepares,
thus it is that he experiences less difficulty with them.
64
Peace and tranquility are easy to hold onto and keep.
It is best to deal with matters before they present themselves.
What is brittle shatters easily.
What is small is easy to disperse.
Deal with troubles before they have arisen.
Establish order before disorder has reared itself.
A large tree grows from a small twig.
A terrace nine levels high starts with a clod of earth.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
If you rush into action heedlessly you will rush into your own failure.
If you try to grasp things you will lose your grip.
Therefore the sage does not try to rush to completion, and he does not grasp all about for things.
In this way he avoids failure and losing.
Often people fail in their endeavors on the verge of completion,
this is because they exercise care at the beginning, and then slacken near the end.
Take as full care of tasks at the end as at the beginning, this will ensure proper completion.
Therefore the sage desires nothing so much as to be free from desire.
He does not treasure things that are difficult to procure.
He learns to not know.
He practices a return to the natural origin of all things without a practice to that end.
65
The ancient practitioners of the Tao did not try to educate or enlighten the people;
they led them instead to a return to a natural simplicity.
