By Lao Tsu. Translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English. 1972.
11
Thirty spokes share the wheel’s hub;
It is the center hole that makes it useful.
Shape clay into a vessel;
It is the space within that makes it useful.
Cut doors and windows for a room;
It is the holes which make it useful.
Therefore profit comes from what is there;
Usefulness comes from what is not there.
22
Yield and overcome;
Bend and be straight;
Empty and be full;
Wear out and be new;
Have little and gain;
Have much and be confused.
28
Return to the state of the uncarved block.
30
Whenever you advise a ruler in the way of Tao,
Counsel him not to use force to conquer the universe.
For this would only cause resistance.
Thorn bushes spring up wherever the army has passed.
Lean years follow in the wake of a great war.
Just do what needs to be done.
Never take advantage of power.
Achieve results,
But never glory in them.
Achieve results,
But never boast.
Achieve results,
But never be proud.
Achieve results,
Because this is the natural way.
Achieve results,
But not through violence.
Force is followed by loss of strength,
This is not the way of Tao.
That which goes against the Tao
Comes to an early end.
31
The wise man prefers the left.
The man of war prefers the right.
Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man’s tools.
He uses them only when he has no choice.
Peace and quiet are dear to his heart,
And victory no cause for rejoicing.
If you rejoice in victory, then you delight in killing;
If you delight in killing, you cannot fulfill yourself.
33
Knowing others is wisdom;
Knowing the self is enlightenment.
Mastering others requires force;
Mastering the self requires strength.
He who knows he has enough is rich.
Perserverance is a sign of will power.
He who stays where he is endures.
To die but not to perish is to be eternally present.
36
That which shrinks
Must first expand.
That which fails
Must first be strong.
That which is cast down
Must first be raised.
Before receiving
There must be giving.
This is called perception of the nature of things.
Soft and weak overcome hard and strong.
37
Tao abides in non-action,
Yet nothing is left undone.
39
Therefore the humble is the root of the noble.
The low is the foundation of the high.
40
Returning is the motion of the Tao.
Yielding is the way of the Tao.
Being is born of not being.
41
The bright path seems dim;
Going forward seems like retreat;
Great talents ripen late;
The highest notes are hard to hear;
42
The ten thousand things carry yin and embrace yang.
They achieve harmony by combining these forces.
43
The softest thing in the world
Overcomes the hardest thing in the world.
That which is without substance can enter where there is no room.
Hence I know the value of non-action.
Teaching without words and working without doing
Are understood by very few.
44
Self or wealth: Which is more precious?
45
Great accomplishment seems imperfect,
Yet it does not outlive its usefulness.
Great intelligence seems stupid.
Great eloquence seems awkward.
48
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
The world is ruled by letting things take their course.
It cannot be ruled by interfering.
49
I am good to people who are good.
But I am also good to people who are not good.
Because Virtue is goodness.
52
Seeing the small is insight.
54
What is firmly established cannot be uprooted.
What is firmly grasped cannot slip away.
Cultivate Virtue in yourself,
And Virtue will be real.
56
Those who know do not talk.
Those who talk do not know.
Keep your mouth closed.
Guard your senses.
Temper your sharpness.
Simplify your problems.
Mask your brightness.
58
Happiness is rooted in misery.
Misery lurks beneath happiness.
The sage is sharp but not cutting,
Pointed but not piercing,
Straightforward but not unrestrained,
Brilliant but not blinding.
61
Those who would conquer must yield,
And those who conquer do so because they yield.
It is fitting for a great nation to yield.
63
Practice non-action.
Work without doing.
Taste the tasteless.
Magnify the small, increase the few.
See simplicity in the complicated.
Achieve greatness in little things.
Great acts are made up of small deeds.
The sage does not attempt anything very big,
And thus achieves greatness.
Because the sage always confronts difficulties,
He never experiences them.
64
Trouble is easily overcome before it starts.
The brittle is easily shattered.
Deal with it before it happens.
Set things in order before there is confusion.
A tree as great as a man’s embrace springs from a small shoot;
A terrace nine stories high begins with a pile of earth;
A journey of a thousand miles starts under one’s feet.
He who grasps loses.
People usually fail when they are on the verge of success.
So give as much care to the end as to the beginning;
Then there will be no failure.
66
Why is the sea king of a hundred streams?
Because it lies below them.
Therefore it is king of a hundred streams.
If the sage would guide the people, he must serve with humility.
If he would lead them, he must follow behind.
In this way, when the sage rules, the people will not feel oppressed;
When he stands before them, they will not be harmed.
The whole world will support him and will not tire of him.
67
I have three treasures which I hold and keep.
The first is mercy; the second is economy;
The third is daring not to be ahead of others.
From mercy comes courage; from economy comes generosity;
From humility comes leadership.
68
A good soldier is not violent.
A good fighter is not angry.
A good winner is not vengeful.
A good employer is humble.
This is known as the Virtue of not striving.
This is known as ability to deal with people.
76
The stiff and unbending is the principle of death.
The gentle and yielding is the principle of life.
An army without flexibility never wins a battle.
A tree that is unbending is easily broken.
The hard and strong will fall.
The soft and weak will overcome.
78
Nothing is more soft and yielding than water.
Yet for attacking the solid and strong, nothing is better;
It has no equal.
The weak can overcome the strong;
The supple can overcome the stiff.
The truth often sounds paradoxical.
81
Truthful words are not beautiful.
Beautiful words are not truthful.
The sage never tries to store things up
The more he does for others, the more he has.
The more he gives to others, the greater his abundance.