61.1 A big country (should be like) the delta low-regions, Being the concourse of the world, (And) the Female of the world. The Female overcomes the Male by quietude, And achieves the lowly position by quietude.
61.2 Therefore if a big country places itself below a small country It absorbs the small country. (And) if a small country places itself below a big country, It absorbs the big country.
61.3 Therefore some place themselves low to absorb (others), Some are (naturally) low and absorb (others).
61.4 What a big country wants is but to shelter others, And what a small country wants is but to be able to come in and be sheltered.
61.5 Thus (considering) that both may have what they want, A big country ought to place itself low.

62.1 Tao is the mysterious secret of the universe, The good man's treasure, And the bad man's refuge.
62.2 Beautiful saying can be sold at the market, Noble conduct can be presented as a gift. Though there be bad people, Why reject them?
62.3 Therefore on the crowning of an emperor, On the appointment of the Three Ministers, Rather than send tributes of jade and teams of four horses, Send in the tribute of Tao.
62.4 Wherein did the ancients prize this Tao? Did they not say, "to search for the guilty ones and pardon them"? Therefore is (tao) the treasure of the world.

63.1 Accomplish do-nothing. Attend to no-affairs. Taste the flavorless.
63.2 Whether it is big or small, many or few, Requite hatred with virtue.
63.3 Deal with the difficult while yet it is easy; Deal wit the big while yet it is small.
63.4 The difficult (problems) of the world Must be dealt with while they are yet easy; The great (problems) of the world Must be dealt with while they are yet small.
63.5 Therefore the Sage by never dealing with great (problems) Accomplishes greatness.
63.6 He who lightly makes a promise Will find it often hard to keep his faith.
63.7 He who makes light of many things Will encounter many difficulties. Hence even the Sage regards things as difficult, And for that reason never meets with difficulties.

64.1 That which lies still is easy to hold; That which is not yet manifest is easy to forestall; That which is brittle (like ice) easily melts; That which is minute easily scatters.
64.2 Deal with a thing before it is there; Check disorder before it is rife.
64.3 A tree with a full span's girth begins from a tiny sprout; A nine-storied terrace begins with a clod of earth. A journey of a thousand li beings at one's feet.
64.4 He who acts, spoils; He who grasps, lets slip. Because the Sage does not act, he does not spoil, Because he does not grasp, he does not let slip.
64.5 The affairs of men are often spoiled within an ace of completion. By being careful at the end as at the beginning Failure is averted.
64.6 Therefore the Sage desires to have no desire, And values not objects difficult to obtain. Learns that which is unlearned, And restores what the multitude have lost. That he may assist in the course of Nature And not presume to interfere.

65.1 The ancients who knew how to follow the Tao Aimed not to enlighten the people. But to keep them ignorant.
65.2 The reason it is difficult for the people to leave in peace Is because of too much knowledge. Those who seek to rule a country by knowledge Are the nation's curse. Those who seek not to rule a country by knowledge Are the nation's blessing.
65.3 Those who know these two (principles) Also know the ancient standard, And to know always the ancient standard Is called the Mystic Virtue.
65.4 When the Mystic Virtue becomes clear, far-reaching, And things revert back (to their source) Then and then only emerges the Grand Harmony.

66.1 How did the great rivers and seas become the Lords of the ravines? By being good at keeping low. That was how they became Lords of the Ravines.
66.2 Therefore in order to be the chief among the people, One must speak like their inferiors. In order to be foremost among the people, One must walk behind them.
66.3 Thus it is that the Sage stays above, And the people do not feel his weight; Walks in front, And the people do not wish him harm. Then the people of the world are glad to uphold him forever.
66.4 Because he does not contend, No one in the world can contend against him.

67.1 All the world says: my teaching (Tao) greatly resembles folly. Because it is great; therefore it resembles folly. If it did not resemble folly, It would have long ago become petty indeed!
67.2 I have Three Treasures; Guard them and keep them safe: the first is Love. The second is, Never too much. The third is, Never be the first in the world.
67.3 Through Love, one has no fear; Through not doing too much, one has amplitude (of reserve power); Through not presuming to be the first in the world, One can develop one's talent and let it mature.
67.4 If one forsakes love and fearlessness, forsakes restraint and reserve power, forsakes following behind and rushes in front, He is doomed!
67.5 For love is victorious in attack, And invulnerable in defense. Heaven arms with love Those it would not see destroyed.

68.1 The brave soldier is not violent; The good fighter does not lose his temper;
68.2 The great conqueror does not fight (on small issues); The good user of men places himself below others.
68.3 - This is the virtue of not-contending, Is called the capacity to use men, Is reaching to the height of being Mated to Heaven, to what was of old.

69.1 There is the maxim of military strategists; I dare not be the first to invade, but rather be the invaded. Dare not press forward an inch, but rather retreat a foot.
69.2 That is, to march without formations, To roll up the sleeves, To charge not in frontal attacks, To arm without weapons.
69.3 There is no greater catastrophe than to underestimate the enemy.
69.4 To underestimate the enemy might entail the loss of my treasures. Therefore when two equally matched armies meet, It is the man of sorrow who wins.

70.1 My teachings are very easy to understand and very easy to practice, But no one can understand them and no one can practice them.
70.2 In my words there is a principle. In the affairs of men there is a system. Because they know not these, They also know me not. Since there are few that know me, Therefore I am distinguished.
70.3 Therefore the Sage wears a coarse cloth on top And carries jade within his bosom.

71.1 Who knows that he does not know is the highest; Who (pretends to) know what he does not know is sick-minded. And who recognizes sick-mindedness as sick-mindedness is not sick-minded.
71.2 The Sage is not sick-minded. Because he recognizes sick-mindedness as sick-mindness, Therefore he is not sick-minded.

72.1 When people have no fear of force, Then (as is the common practice) great force descends upon them.
72.2 Despise not their dwellings, Dislike not their progeny. Because you do not dislike them, You will not be disliked yourself.
72.3 Therefore the Sage knows himself, but does not show himself, Loves himself, but does not exalt himself. Therefore he rejects the one (force) and accepts the other (gentility).

73.1 Who is brave in daring (you) kill, Who is brave in not daring (you) let live.
73.2 In these two, There is some advantage and some disadvantage. (Even if) Heaven dislikes certain people, Who would know (who are to be killed and) why? Therefore even the Sage regards it as a difficult question.
73.3 Heaven's Way (Tao) is good at conquest without strife, Rewarding (vice and virtue) without words, Making its appearance without call, Achieving results without obvious design.
73.4 The heaven's net is broad and wide. With big meshes, yet letting nothing slip through.

74.1 The people are not afraid of death; Why threaten them with death?
74.2 Supposing that the people are afraid of death, And we can seize and kill the unruly, Who would dare to do so?
74.3 Often it happens that the executioner is killed. And to take the place of the executioner Is like handling the hatchet for the master carpenter. He who handles the hatchet for the master carpenter seldom escapes injury to his hands.

75.1 When people are hungry, It is because their rulers eat too much tax-grain.
75.2 Therefore the unruliness of hungry people Is due to the interference of their rulers. That is why they are unruly.
75.3 The people are not afraid of death, Because they are anxious to make a living. That is why they are not afraid of death. It is those who interfere not with their living That are wise in exalting life.

76.1 When man is born, he is tender and weak; At death, he is hard and stiff.
76.2 When the things and plants are alive, they are soft and supple; When they are dead, they are brittle and dry.
76.3 Therefore hardness and stiffness are the companions of death, And softness and gentleness are the companions of life.
76.4 Therefore when an army is headstrong, it will lose in a battle. When a tree is hard, it will be cut down.
76.5 The big and strong belong underneath. The gentle and weak belong at the top.

77.1 The Tao (way) of Heaven, Is it not like the bending of a bow? The top comes down and the bottom-end goes up, The extra (length) is shortened, the insufficient (width) is expanded.
77.2 It is the way of Heaven to take away from those that have too much And give to those that have not enough. Not so with man's way: He takes from those that have not And gives it as tribute to those that have too much.
77.3 Who can have enough and to spare to give to the entire world? Only the man of Tao.
77.4 Therefore the Sage acts, but does not possess, Accomplishes but lays claim to no credit, Because he has no wish to seem superior.

78.1 There is nothing weaker than water But none is superior to it in overcoming the hard, For which there is no substitute.
78.2 That weakness overcomes strength And gentleness overcomes rigidity, No one does not know; No one can put into practice.
78.3 Therefore the Sage says: "Who receives unto himself the calumny of the world Is the preserver of the state. Who bears himself the sins of the world Is king of the world." Straight words seem crooked.

79.1 Patching up a great hatred is sure to leave some hatred behind. How can this be regarded as satisfactory?
79.2 Therefore the Sage holds the left tally, And does not put the guilt on the other party.
79.3 The virtuous man is for patching up; The vicious is for fixing guilt.
79.4 But "the way of Heaven is impartial; It sides only with the good man."

80.1 (Let there be) a small country with a small population, Where the supply of goods are tenfold or hundredfold, more than they can use. Let the people value their lives and not migrate far.
80.2 Though there be boats and carriages, None be there to ride them. Though there be armor and weapons, No occasion to display them.
80.3 Let the people again tie ropes for reckoning, Let them enjoy their food, Beautify their clothing, Be satisfied with their homes, Delight in their customs.
80.4 The neighboring settlements overlook one another So that they can hear the barking of dogs and crowing of cocks of their neighbors, And the people till the end of their days shall never have been outside their country.

81.1 True words are not fine-sounding; Fine-sounding words are not true.
81.2 A good man does not argue; he who argues is not a good man.
81.3 The wise one does not know many things; He who knows many things is not wise.
81.4 The Sage does not accumulate (for himself). He lives for other people, And grows richer himself; He gives to other people, And has greater abundance.
81.5 The Tao of Heaven Blesses, but does not harm. The Way of the Sage Accomplishes, but does not contend.