Tao Te Ching – Verse 63

Act without doing;
work without effort.
Think of the small as large
and the few as many.
Confront the difficult
while it is still easy;
accomplish the great task
by a series of small acts.

Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 63 – Act without doing; work without effort”

Tao Te Ching – Verse 60

Governing a large country
is like frying a small fish.
You spoil it with too much poking.
Center your country in the Tao
and evil will have no power.
Not that it isn’t there,
but you’ll be able to step out of its way.

Give evil nothing to oppose
and it will disappear by itself.

(translation by Stephen Mitchell, 1995)
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Ruling a large country is like cooking a small fish
Using the Tao to manage the world
Its demons have no power
Not only do its demons have no power
Its gods do not harm people

Not only do its gods not harm people
The sages also do not harm people
They both do no harm to one another
So virtue merges and returns

(translation by Derek Lin, 2006)
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Zero, once realized,
Has no room for the opposites,
And thus is immortal.

(translation by Jeremy M. Miller, 2013)
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from I Ching Online

Tao Te Ching – Verse 59

For governing a country well
there is nothing better than moderation.
The mark of a moderate man  is freedom from his own ideas.
Tolerant like the sky,
all-pervading like sunlight,
firm like a mountain,
supple like a tree in the wind,
he has no destination in view
and makes use of anything
life happens to bring his way.

Nothing is impossible for him.
Because he has let go,
he can care for the people’s welfare
as a mother cares for her child. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 59 – For governing a country well there is nothing better than moderation”

Tao Te Ching – Verse 58

If a country is governed with tolerance,
the people are comfortable and honest.
If a country is governed with repression,
the people are depressed and crafty.
When the will to power is in charge,
the higher the ideals, the lower the results.
Try to make people happy,
and you lay the groundwork for misery.
Try to make people moral,
and you lay the groundwork for vice. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 58 – “If a country is governed with tolerance, the people are comfortable and honest””

Tao Te Ching – Verse 57

If you want to be a great leader,
you must learn to follow the Tao.
Stop trying to control.
Let go of fixed plans and concepts,
and the world will govern itself.
The more prohibitions you have,
the less virtuous people will be.
The more weapons you have,
the less secure people will be.
The more subsidies you have,
the less self-reliant people will be. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 57 – If you want to be a great leader, you must learn to follow the Tao.”

Tao Te Ching – Verse 56

Those who know don’t talk.
Those who talk don’t know.
Close your mouth,
block off your senses,
blunt your sharpness,
untie your knots,
soften your glare,
settle your dust.
This is the primal identity.
Be like the Tao.
Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 56 – Those who know don’t talk. Those who talk don’t know.”