IT lies in the nature of Grand Virtue
To follow the Tao and the Tao alone.
Now what is the Tao?
It is Something elusive and evasive.
Evasive and elusive!
And yet It contains within Itself a Form.
Elusive and evasive!
And yet It contains within Itself a Substance.
Shadowy and dim!
And yet It contains within Itself a Core of Vitality.
The Core of Vitality is very real,
It contains within Itself an unfailing Sincerity.
Throughout the ages Its Name has been preserved
In order to recall the Beginning of all things.
How do I know the ways of all things at the Beginning?
By what is within me.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 BEND and you will be whole.
Curl and you will be straight.
Keep empty and you will be filled.
Grow old and you will be renewed.

 Have little and you will gain.
Have much and you will be confused.

 Therefore, the Sage embraces the One,
And becomes a Pattern to all under Heaven.
He does not make a show of himself,
Hence he shines;
Does not justify himself,
Hence he becomes known;
Does not boast of his ability,
Hence he gets his credit;
Does not brandish his success,
Hence he endures;
Does not compete with anyone,
Hence no one can compete with him.
Indeed, the ancient saying: "Bend and you will remain
 whole" is no idle word.
Nay, if you have really attained wholeness, everything
 will flock to you.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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ONLY simple and quiet words will ripen of themselves.
For a whirlwind does not last a whole morning,
Nor does a sudden shower last a whole day.
Who is their author? Heaven-and-Earth!
Even Heaven-and-Earth cannot make such violent things last long;
How much truer is it of the rash endeavours of men?

Hence, he who cultivates the Tao is one with the Tao;
He who practices Virtue is one with Virtue;
And he who courts after Loss is one with Loss.

To be one with the Tao is to be a welcome accession to the Tao;
To be one with Virtue is to be a welcome accession to Virtue;
To be one with Loss is to be a welcome accession to Loss.

Deficiency of faith on your part
Entails faithlessness on the part of others.
 
 
 
 
 

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 ONE on tip-toe cannot stand.
One astride cannot walk.
One who displays himself does not shine.
One who justifies himself has no glory.
One who boasts of his own ability has no merit.
One who parades his own success will not endure.
In Tao these things are called "unwanted food and
 extraneous growths,"
Which are loathed by all things.
Hence, a man of Tao does not set his heart upon them.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 THERE was Something undefined and yet complete in
 itself,
Born before Heaven-and-Earth.

 Silent and boundless,
Standing alone without change,
Yet pervading all without fail,
It may be regarded as the Mother of the world.
I do not know its name;
I style it "Tao";
And, in the absence of a better word, call it
 "The Great."

 To be great is to go on,
To go on is to be far,
To be far is to return.

 Hence, "Tao is great,
Heaven is great,
Earth is great,
King is great."
Thus, the king is one of the great four in the Universe.

 Man follows the ways of the Earth.
The Earth follows the ways of Heaven,
Heaven follows the ways of Tao,
Tao follows its own ways. 
 

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 HEAVINESS is the root of lightness.
Serenity is the master of restlessness.

 Therefore, the Sage, travelling all day,
Does not part with the baggage-wagon;
Though there may be gorgeous sights to see,
He stays at ease in his own home.

 Why should a lord of ten thousand chariots
Display his lightness to the world?
To be light is to be separated from one's root;
To be restless is to lose one's self-mastery.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 GOOD walking leaves no track behind it;
Good speech leaves no mark to be picked at;
Good calculation makes no use of counting-slips;
Good shutting makes no use of bolt and bar,
And yet nobody can undo it;
Good tying makes no use of rope and knot,
And yet nobody can untie it.

 Hence, the Sage is always good at saving men,
And therefore nobody is abandoned;
Always good at saving things,
And therefore nothing is wasted.

 This is called "following the guidance of the Inner
 Light."

 Hence, good men are teachers of bad men,
While bad men are the charge of good men.
Not to revere one's teacher,
Not to cherish one's charge,
Is to be on the wrong road, however intelligent one
 may be.
This is an essential tenet of the Tao.
 

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KNOW the masculine,
Keep to the feminine,
And be the Brook of the World.
To be the Brook of the World is
To move constantly in the path of Virtue
Without swerving from it,
And to return again to infancy.

Know the white,
Keep to the black,
And be the Pattern of the World.
To be the Pattern of the World is
To move constantly in the path of Virtue
Without erring a single step,
And to return again to the Infinite.

Know the glorious,
Keep to the lowly,
And be the Fountain of the World.
To be the Fountain of the World is
To live the abundant life of Virtue,
And to return again to Primal Simplicity.

When Primal Simplicity diversifies,
It becomes useful vessels,
Which, in the hands of the Sage, become officers.
Hence, "a great tailor does little cutting."
 

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 DOES anyone want to take the world and do what he
 wants with it?
I do not see how he can succeed.

 The world is a sacred vessel, which must not be
 tampered with or grabbed after.
To tamper with it is to spoil it, and to grasp it is to
 lose it.

 In fact, for all things there is a time for going ahead, and
 a time for following behind;
A time for slow-breathing and a time for fast-breathing;
A time to grow in strength and a time to decay;
A time to be up and a time to be down.

 Therefore, the Sage avoids all extremes, excesses and
 extravagances.
 
 
 
 
 

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 HE who knows how to guide a ruler in the path
 of Tao
Does not try to override the world with force of arms.
It is in the nature of a military weapon to turn against its
 wielder.

 Wherever armies are stationed; thorny bushes grow.
After a great war, bad years invariably follow.

 What you want is to protect efficiently your own state,
But not to aim at self-aggrandisement.

 After you have attained your purpose,
You must not parade your success,
You must not boast of your ability,
You must not feel proud,
You must rather regret that you had not been able to
 prevent the war.
You must never think of conquering others by force.

 For to be over-developed is to hasten decay,
And this is against Tao,
And what is against Tao will soon cease to be.
 

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FINE weapons of war augur evil.
Even things seem to hate them.
Therefore, a man of Tao does not set his heart upon them.

In ordinary life, a gentleman regards the left side as the 
     place of honour:
In war, the right side is the place of honour.

As weapons are instruments of evil,
They are not properly a gentleman's instruments;
Only on necessity will he resort to them.
For peace and quiet are dearest to his heart,
And to him even a victory is no cause for rejoicing.

To rejoice over a victory is to rejoice over the slaughter 
     of men!
Hence a man who rejoices over the slaughter of men
     cannot expect to thrive in the world of men.

On happy occasions the left side is preferred:
On sad occasions the right side.
In the army, the Lieutenant Commander stands on the left,
While the Commander-in-Chief stands on the right.
This means that war is treated on a par with a funeral 
     service.
Because many people have been killed, it is only right
 that survivors should mourn for them.
Hence, even a victory is a funeral.
 
 

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 TAO is always nameless.
Small as it is in its Primal Simplicity,
It is inferior to nothing in the world.
If only a ruler could cling to it,
Everything will render homage to him.
Heaven and Earth will be harmonized
And send down sweet dew.
Peace and order will reign among the people
Without any command from above.

 When once the Primal Simplicity diversified,
Different names appeared.
Are there not enough names now?

 Is this not the time to stop?
To know when to stop is to preserve ourselves from
 danger.
The Tao is to the world what a great river or an ocean
 is to the streams and brooks.
 
 
 

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 HE who knows men is clever;
He who knows himself has insight.
He who conquers men has force;
He who conquers himself is truly strong.

 He who knows when he has got enough is rich,
And he who adheres assiduously to the path of Tao is
 a man of steady purpose.
He who stays where he has found his true home endures
 long,
And he who dies but perishes not enjoys real longevity.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 THE Great Tao is universal like a flood.
How can it be turned to the right or to the left?

 All creatures depend on it,
And it denies nothing to anyone.

 It does its work,
But it makes no claims for itself.

 It clothes and feeds all,
But it does not lord it over them:
Thus, it may be called "the Little."

 All things return to it as to their home,
But it does not lord it over them:
Thus, it may be called "the Great."

 It is just because it does not wish to be great
That its greatness is fully realised.
 
 
 

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 HE who holds the Great Symbol will attract all
 things to him.
They flock to him and receive no harm, for in him they
 find peace, security and happiness.

 Music and dainty dishes can only make a passing guest
 pause.
But the words of Tao possess lasting effects,
Though they are mild and flavourless,
Though they appeal neither to the eye nor to the ear.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 WHAT is in the end to be shrunken,
Begins by being first stretched out.
What is in the end to be weakened,
Begins by being first made strong.
What is in the end to be thrown down,
Begins by being first set on high.
What is in the end to be despoiled,
Begins by being first richly endowed.

 Herein is the subtle wisdom of life:
The soft and weak overcomes the hard and strong.

 Just as the fish must not leave the deeps,
So the ruler must not display his weapons.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 TAO never makes any ado,
And yet it does everything.
If a ruler can cling to it,
All things will grow of themselves.
When they have grown and tend to make a stir,
It is time to keep them in their place by the aid of the
 nameless Primal Simplicity,
Which alone can curb the desires of men.
When the desires of men are curbed, there will be peace,
And the world will settle down of its own accord.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 HIGH Virtue is non-virtuous;
Therefore it has Virtue.
Low Virtue never frees itself from virtuousness;
Therefore it has no Virtue.

 High Virtue makes no fuss and has no private ends
 to serve:
Low Virtue not only fusses but has private ends to serve.

 High humanity fusses but has no private ends to serve:
High morality not only fusses but has private ends
 to serve.
High ceremony fusses but finds no response;
Then it tries to enforce itself with rolled-up sleeves.

 Failing Tao, man resorts to Virtue.
Failing Virtue, man resorts to humanity.
Failing humanity, man resorts to morality.
Failing morality, man resorts to ceremony.
Now, ceremony is the merest husk of faith and loyalty;
It is the beginning of all confusion and disorder.

 As to foreknowledge, it is only the flower of Tao,
And the beginning of folly.

 Therefore, the full-grown man sets his heart upon
 the substance rather than the husk;
Upon the fruit rather than the flower.
Truly, he prefers what is within to what is without.
 

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 FROM of old there are not lacking things that have
 attained Oneness.
The sky attained Oneness and became clear;
The earth attained Oneness and became calm;
The spirits attained Oneness and became charged with
 mystical powers;
The fountains attained Oneness and became full;
The ten thousand creatures attained Oneness and
 became reproductive;
Barons and princes attained Oneness and became
 sovereign rulers of the world.
All of them are what they are by virtue of Oneness.

 If the sky were not clear, it would be likely to fall to
 pieces;
If the earth were not calm, it would be likely to burst
 into bits;
If the spirits were not charged with mystical powers,
 they would be likely to cease from being;
If the fountains were not full, they would be likely to
 dry up;
If the ten thousand creatures were not reproductive, they
 would be likely to come to extinction;
If the barons and princes were not the sovereign rulers,
 they would be likely to stumble and fall.

 Truly, humility is the root from which greatness springs,
And the high must be built upon the foundation of the
 low.

 That is why barons and princes style themselves
 "The Helpless One," "The Little One," and
 "The Worthless One."
 

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 THE movement of the Tao consists in Returning.
The use of the Tao consists in softness.

 All things under heaven are born of the corporeal:
The corporeal is born of the Incorporeal.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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