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吾言甚易知。甚易行。天下莫能知。莫能行。言有宗。事有君。夫惟無知。是以不我知也。知我者希。則我者貴。是以聖人被褐懷玉。 Translation My words are easy to understand, easy to put into practice. Yet none beneath Heaven can understand them, none can put them into practice. Words have a root. Affairs have a master. It is on...

知不知上。不知知病。夫惟病病。是以不病。聖人之不病也。以其病病。是以不病。 Translation To know yet seem not to know — this is the highest. Not to know yet think you know — this is a sickness. Only by recognizing sickness as sickness does one become free of it. The Sage is free of sickness because...

民不畏威。則大畏至矣。無狹其所居。無厭其所生。夫惟不厭。是以不厭。是以聖人自知不自見。自愛不自貴。故去彼取此。 Translation When the people do not fear authority, a greater authority will come. Do not crowd them in their dwellings. Do not oppress them in their living. Only by not oppressing will one not be oppresse...

勇於敢則殺。勇於不敢則活。此兩者或利或害。天之所惡。孰知其故。是以聖人猶難之。天之道不爭而善勝。不言而善應。不召而自來。繟然而善謀。天網恢恢。疏而不失。 Translation Courage in daring leads to killing. Courage in not-daring leads to life. Of these two, one benefits, the other harms. What Heaven finds hateful — who truly knows the reaso...

民常不畏死。奈何以死懼之。若使人常畏死。而為奇者。吾得執而殺之。孰敢。常有司殺者殺。而代司殺者殺。是代大匠斫。夫代大匠斫。希有不傷其手矣。 Translation When the people no longer fear death, what good is it to threaten them with death? If the people could be made always to fear death, and we seized the deviant and put them to dea...

民之飢。以其上食稅之多也。是以飢。民之難治。以其上之有為也。是以難治。民之輕死。以其生生之厚也。是以輕死。夫唯無以生為者。是賢於貴生。 Translation The people's hunger — it is because those above consume too much in taxes. This is why they hunger. The people being hard to govern — it is because those above are addicted to acti...

人之生也柔弱。其死也堅強。草木之生也柔脆。其死也枯槁。故堅強者死之徒。柔弱者生之徒。是以兵強則不勝。木強則共。強大處下。柔弱處上。 Translation When a person is alive, the body is soft and supple. In death, it is stiff and rigid. When grasses and trees are alive, they are soft and tender. In death, they are dry and brittle. ...

天之道其猶張弓乎。高者抑之。下者舉之。有餘者損之。不足者補之。天之道損有餘而補不足。人之道則不然。損不足而奉有餘。孰能以有餘奉天下。唯有道者。是以聖人為而不恃。成功而不居。其不欲見賢耶。 Translation Is not the Dao of Heaven like the drawing of a bow? What is high, it presses down; what is low, it raises up. What has surplus, it diminishes; what is def...

天下莫柔弱於水。而攻堅疆者。莫之能先。以其無以易之也。故柔之勝剛。弱之勝疆。天下莫不知。莫能行。是以聖人云。受國之垢。是謂社稷主。受國之不祥。是謂天下王。正言若反。 Translation In all under Heaven, nothing is softer than water, yet in attacking the hard and the strong, nothing can surpass it — for nothing can take its place. That the soft o...

和大怨必有餘怨。安可以為善。是以聖人執左契。而不責於人。故有德司契。無德司徹。天道無親。常與善人。 Translation Reconcile a great enmity — lingering enmity remains. How can this be called good? Therefore the Sage holds the left tally yet presses no claim upon others. Those who possess De attend to the tally; ...

小國寡民。使有什伯之器而不用。使民重死而不遠徙。雖有舟車無所乘之。雖有甲兵。無所陳之。使民復結繩而用之。甘其食。美其服。安其居。樂其俗。鄰國相望。雞犬之音相聞。民至老死不相往來。 Translation A small state, few people — let them have implements for tens and hundreds, yet never use them. Let the people hold death close and not wander far. Though boa...

信言不美。美言不信。善言不辯。辯言不善。知者不博。博者不知。聖人不積。既以為人己愈有。既以與人己愈多。天之道利而不害。聖人之道為而不爭。 Translation Trustworthy words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not trustworthy. Good words need no argument; argumentative words are not good. Those who know are not broadly learned; th...