The Tao Te Ching

THE TAO TE CHING,
OR
THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS

by Lao Tzu

translated by James Legge
(Edited by Zee Sing*)

Selection 14

People at birth are supple and weak; at death, firm and
strong. So it is with all things. Trees and plants, in their early
growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered.

Thus it is that firmness and strength are the concomitants of
death; softness and weakness, the concomitants of life.

Hence one who relies on the strength of forces does not
conquer; and a tree which is strong will fill the out-stretched arms,
and thereby invites the feller.

Therefore the place of what is firm and strong is below, and that
of what is soft and weak is above.

May not the Way or Tao of Heaven be compared to the method
of bending a bow? The part of the bow which was high is brought
low, and what was low is raised up. So Heaven diminishes where
there is superabundance, and supplements where there is deficiency.

It is the Way of Heaven to diminish superabundance, and to
supplement deficiency. It is not so with the way of man. He takes
away from those who have not enough to add to his own superabundance.

Who can take his own superabundance and therewith serve all under
heaven? Only he who is in possession of the Tao!

Therefore the ruling sage acts without claiming the results as
his; he achieves his merit and does not rest arrogantly in it:--he
does not wish to display superiority.

There is nothing in the world more soft and weak than water,
and yet for attacking things that are firm and strong there is nothing
that can take precedence of it;--for there is nothing so effectual
for which it can be changed.

Every one in the world knows that the soft overcomes the hard, and
the weak the strong, but no one is able to carry it out in practice.

Therefore a sage has said,
'One who accepts the state's reproach,
Is hailed therefore its altars' lord;
To him who bears men's direful woes
They all the name of King accord.'

Words that are strictly true seem to be paradoxical.

Selection 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
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*Because the Legge translation is rather old, it has been edited slightly to update the language to a more contemporary standard.