61.1 A great country remains receptive and still, as does a rich and fertile land. The gentle overcomes the strong with stillness and receptivity.
61.2 By giving way to the other, one country may conquer another; a small country may submit to a large, and conquer it, though having no arms.
61.3 Those who conquer must be willing to yield; to yield may be to overcome. A fertile nation may require a greater population, to use its resources to the full, whilst the country without such natural wealth may require them to meet its people's needs.
61.4 By acting in unity, each may achieve that which it requires.

62.1 The source of all things is in the Tao.It is a treasure for the good, and a refuge for all in need.
62.2 Whilst praise can buy titles, good deeds gain respect.
62.3 No man should be abandoned because he has not found the Tao. On auspicious occasions, when gifts are sent, rather than sending horses or jade, send the teaching of Tao.
62.4 When we first discover the natural way, we are happy to know that our misdeeds are in the past, where they belong, and so are happy to realize that we have found a treasure.

63.1 Act without contriving; work naturally, and taste the tasteless; magnify the small; increase the few, and reward bitterness with care.
63.2 Seek the simple in the complex, and achieve greatness in small things.
63.3 It is the way of nature that even difficult things are done with ease, and great acts made up of smaller deeds.
63.4 The sage achieves greatness by small deeds multiplied.
63.5 Promises easily made are most easily broken, and acting with insufficient care causes subsequent trouble.
63.6 The sage confronts problems as they arise, so that they do not trouble him.

64.1 If problems are accepted, and dealt with before they arise, they might even be prevented before confusion begins, In this way peace may be maintained.
64.2 The brittle is easily shattered, and the small is easily scattered. Great trees grow from the smallest shoots; a terraced garden, from a pile of earth, and a journey of a thousand miles begins by taking the initial step.
64.3 He who contrives, defeats his purpose; and he who is grasping, loses.
64.4 The sage does not contrive to win, and therefore is not defeated; he is not grasping, so does not lose.
64.5 It is easy to fail when nearing completion, therefore, take care right to the end, not only in the beginning.
64.6 The sage seeks freedom from desire, not grasping at ideas. He brings men back when they are lost, and helps them find the Tao.

65.1 Knowing it is against the Tao to try to enforce learning, the early sages did not contrive to teach the way of the Tao.
65.2 There are two ways of government.
65.3 One is to be cunning, to act with guile, and to contrive to cheat the people. When this way is used to rule, the people grow in cunning, and contrive to cheat the ruler.
65.4 The second way to govern the land, is to do so without contriving. People so governed are truly blessed, for they are governed with virtue, and virtuous government is fair to all, thus leading to unity.

66.1 The sea is the ruler of river and stream, because it rules from well beneath.
66.2 The teacher guides his students best, by allowing them to lead.
66.3 When the ruler is a sage, the people do not feel oppressed; they support the one who rules them well, and never tire of him.
66.4 He who is non-competitive invites no competition.

67.1 Those who follow the natural way are different from others in three respects. They have great mercy and economy, and the courage not to compete.
67.2 From mercy there comes courage; from economy, generosity; and from humility, willingness to lead from behind.
67.3 It is the way of sickness to shun the merciful, and to acclaim only heroic deeds, to abandon economy, and to be selfish.
67.4 They are sick, who are not humble, but try always to be first. Only he who is compassionate can show true bravery, and in defending, show great strength.
67.5 Compassion is the means by which mankind may be guarded and saved, for heaven arms with compassion, those whom it would not see destroyed.

68.1 An effective warrior acts not from nihilistic anger, nor from desire to kill.
68.2 He who wins should not be vengeful. An employer should have humility.
68.3 If we wish for peace and unity, our dealings with our fellow man must be without desire for self-advantage, and carried out without contention.

69.1 Arguments may be won by waiting, rather than making an aggressive move; by withdrawing rather than advancing.
69.2 By moving without appearing to move, by not making a show of strength, but by conserving it well; by capturing without attacking, by being armed, but with no weapons, great battles may be won.
69.3 Do not underestimate those you enjoin in battle, for this can result in losing what is of greatest value.
69.4 When a battle is enjoined, by remembering this, the weaker may still win.

70.1 Though the words of the sage are simple, and his actions easily performed, they are few among many, who can speak or act as a sage.
70.2 For the ordinary man it is difficult to know the way of a sage, perhaps because his words are from the distant past, and his actions naturally disposed. Those who know the way of the sage are few and far between, but those who treat him with honesty, will be honoured by him and the Tao.
70.3 He knows he makes no fine display, and wears rough clothes, not finery. It is not in his expectancy of men that they should understand his ways, for he carries his jade within his heart.

71.1 To acknowledge one's ignorance shows strength of personality, but to ignore wisdom is a sign of weakness.
71.2 To be sick of sickness is a sign of good health, therefore the wise man grows sick of sickness, and sick of being sick of sickness, 'til he is sick no more.

72.1 The sage retains a sense of awe, and of propriety.
72.1 He does not intrude into others' homes; does not harass them, nor interfere without request, unless they damage others. So it is that they return to him.
72.3 'Though the sage knows himself he makes no show of it; he has self-respect, but is not arrogant, for he develops the ability to let go of that which he no longer needs.

73.1 A brave man who is passionate will either kill or be killed, but a man who is both brave and still might preserve his own and others' lives.
73.2 No one can say with certainty, why it is better to preserve a life.
73.3 The virtuous way is a way to act without contriving effort, yet, without contriving it overcomes.
73.4 It seldom speaks, and never asks, but is answered without a question. It is supplied with all its needs and is constantly at ease because it follows its own plan which cannot be understood by man. It casts its net both deep and wide, and 'though coarse meshed, it misses nothing in the tide.

74.1 If the people are not afraid of death, they have no fear of threats of death.
74.2 If early death is common in the land, and if death is meted out as punishment, the people do not fear to break the law.
74.3 To be the executioner in such a land as this, is to be as an unskilled carpenter who cuts his hand when trying to cut wood.

75.1 When taxes are too heavy, hunger lays the people low. When those who govern interfere too much, the people become rebellious.
75.2 When those who govern demand too much of people's lives, death is taken lightly.
75.3 When the people are starving in the land, life is of little value, and so is more easily sacrificed by them in overthrowing government.

76.1 Man is born gentle and supple. At death, his body is brittle and hard.
76.2 Living plants are tender, and filled with life-giving sap, but at their death they are withered and dry.
76.3 The stiff, the hard, and brittle are harbingers of death, and gentleness and yielding are the signs of that which lives.
76.4 The warrior who is inflexible condemns himself to death, and the tree is easily broken, which ever refuses to yield.
76.5 Thus the hard and brittle will surely fall, and the soft and supple will overcome.

77.1 The Tao is as supple as a bow; the high made lower, and the lowly raised. It shortens the string which has been stretched, and lengthens that which has become too short.
77.2 It is the way of the Tao to take from those who have a surplus to what they need, providing for those without enough.
77.3 The way of the ordinary person, is not the way of the Tao, for such people take from those who are poor and give to those who are rich.
77.4 The sage knows that his possessions are none, therefore he gives to the world; without recognition, doing his work. In this way he accomplishes that which is required of him; without dwelling upon it in any way, he gives of his wisdom without display.

78.1 There is nothing more yielding than water, yet when acting on the solid and strong, its gentleness and fluidity have no equal in any thing.
78.2 The weak can overcome the strong, and the supple overcome the hard. Although this is known far and wide, few put it into practice in their lives.
78.3 Although seemingly paradoxical, the person who takes upon himself, the people's humiliation, is fit to rule; and he is fit to lead, who takes the country's disasters upon himself.

79.1 When covenants and bonds are drawn between the people of the land, that they might know their obligations, it is commonplace for many to fail to meet their dues.
79.2 The sage ensures his dues are met, 'though not expecting others to do the same; in this way he is virtuous.
79.3 He is without virtue of his own, who asks of others that they fulfill his obligations on his behalf.
79.4 The way of nature does not impose on matters such as these but stays with the good for ever, and acts as their reward.

80.1 A small country may have many machines, but the people will have no use for them; they will have boats and carriages which they do not use; their armour and weapons are not displayed, for they are serious when regarding death.
80.2 They do not travel far from home, and make knots in ropes, rather than do much writing.
80.3 The food they eat is plain and good, and their clothes are simple; their homes are secure, without the need of bolts and bars, and they are happy in their ways.
80.4 Though the cockerels and dogs of their neighbors can be heard not far away, the people of the villages grow old and die in peace.

81.1 The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.
81.2 Those who have virtue, have no need of argument for its own sake, for they know that argument is of no avail.
81.3 Those who have knowledge of the natural way do not train themselves in cunning, whilst those who use cunning to rule their lives, and the lives of others, are not knowledgeable of the Tao, nor of natural happiness.
81.4 The sage seeks not to have a store of things or knowledge, for he knows, the less of these he has, the more he has, and that the more he gives, the greater his abundance.
81.5 The way of the sage is pointed but does not harm. The way of the sage is to work without cunning.