Chapter 8

Original Text

上善若水。水善利萬物而不爭。
處眾人之所惡，故幾於道。
居善地，心善淵，與善仁，言善信，政善治，事善能，動善時。
夫唯不爭，故無尤。

Translation

The highest goodness is like water. Water is good at benefiting the myriad beings and does not contend.
It dwells where people disdain to be; therefore it is close to Dao.
In dwelling—be good at the place; in heart—be good at depth; in giving—be good at benevolence; in speech—be good at trust; in governance—be good at order; in affairs—be good at capability; in movement—be good at timing.
Only because it does not contend is it without blame.

Word Notes

• 與 — “to give”: to bestow, to grant (施與).
• 尤 — “blame/fault”: a lapse or transgression.

Chapter Explanation

The highest form of goodness is like water. Water is good at benefiting all beings, yet it does not contend with others. It settles in the most lowly places that people dislike; therefore it is near to Dao.

A person of highest goodness is, in dwelling, good at finding the proper place—like water that comes to rest in hollows without choosing the ground. In heart, good at depth—like water that is hollow and clear. In giving, good at benevolence—like water that moistens and nourishes living things. In speech, good at trust—like water that never loses its tendency to flow downward. In governance, good at order—like water that washes filth away and levels the high and the low. In work, good at capability—like water that moves through every task. In action, good at timing—like water that is lively and responsive.

Having all these excellences, it still does not contend. Precisely because it does not contend, it is without blame.

Discourse

Alas! The world is in decay; the whole globe is at war. Who can count the multitudes slain, or the leagues burned? Trace the illness to its source and it is nothing but the calamity of competition—the calamity of contending for power and rights. By contending for rights, people in fact forfeit their rights—how baffling!

If all nations honored Laozi’s teaching—yielding and not contending—they would naturally be amicable and at ease; cheerful and flourishing. How, then, would there have been such a disaster as the world has never seen?

Granted, when Laozi teaches people not to contend, he is not telling them to be pedantic and useless, dependent and weak, sitting still while “natural selection” eliminates them. He merely forbids struggling for power and profit, in order to extinguish the wars of ten thousand generations. At the same time he teaches people to be good at benefiting beings, good at place, good at depth, good at benevolence, good at trust, good at order, good at capability, and good at timing—to possess exceptional virtue and exceptional ability.

This is not to contend over outward posture, but to strive for inner content; not to contend over appearance and position, but to contend in spirit. Make non-contention your contention; seek without seeking, and it is naturally obtained. This learning has a hundred benefits and not a single harm. It is precisely the right prescription for today’s disease. Why do the peoples of all nations not give it a try?