Summary
Trying to narrow down the philosophy of the Tao Te Ching with limiting words is to violate its primordial essence. A book that reveals something new every time you read it.
Key Takeaways
To be added on a reread. See notes below.
What I got out of it
To be added on a reread. See notes below.
Table of Contents
Summary Notes
2
Is and Isn’t produce each other.
The Sage is devoted to non-action,
Moves without teaching,
Creates ten thousand things without instruction,
Lives but does not own,
Acts but does not presume,
Accomplishes without taking credit.
When no credit is taken,
Accomplishment endures.
3
Don’t display what people desire, And their hearts will not be disturbed.
Therefore,
The Sage rules
By emptying hearts and filling bellies, By weakening ambitions and strengthening bones;
Leads people away from knowing and wanting;
Deters those who know too much from going too far:
Practices non-action
And the natural order is not disrupted.
5
Heaven and Earth
And all the space between
Are like a bellows:
Empty but inexhaustible,
Always producing more.
Longwinded speech is exhausting.
Better to stay centered.
7
Heaven is long, Earth enduring.
Long and enduring
Because they do not exist for themselves.
Therefore the Sage
Steps back, but is always in front, Stays outside, but is always within.
No self-interest?
Self is fulfilled.
8
Live in a good place.
Keep your mind down.
Treat others well.
Stand by your word.
Make fair rules.
Do the right thing.
Work when it’s time.
Only do not contend,
And you will not go wrong.
10
Give birth and cultivate.
Give birth and do not possess.
Act without dependence.
Excel but do not rule.
This is called dark TE.
11
Having leads to profit,
Not having leads to use.
13
Favour and disgrace are like fear.
Honour and distress are like the self.
What does this mean?
Favour debases us.
Afraid when we get it,
Afraid when we lose it.
The self embodies distress.
No self.
No distress.
Respect the world as your self: The world can be your lodging.
Love the world as your self: The world can be your trust.
16
Mind opening leads to compassion,
Compassion to nobility,
Nobility to heavenliness,
Heavenliness to TAO.
19
Banish learning, discard knowledge: People will gain a hundredfold.
Banish benevolence, discard righteousness: People will return to duty and compassion.
Banish skill, discard profit: There will be no more thieves.
These three statements are not enough.
One more step is necessary:
Look at plain silk; hold uncarved wood.
The self dwindles; desires fade.
22
Crippled becomes whole,
Crooked becomes straight,
Hollow becomes full,
Worn becomes new,
Little becomes more,
Much becomes delusion.
Therefore Sages cling to the One and take care of this world;
Do not display themselves
And therefore shine;
Do not assert themselves
And therefore stand out;
Do not praise themselves
And therefore succeed;
Are not complacent
And therefore endure;
Do not contend
And therefore no under heaven can contend with them.
24
On tiptoe: no way to stand.
Clambering: no way to walk.
Self-display: no way to shine.
Self-assertion: no way to succeed.
Self-praise: no way to flourish.
Complacency: no way to endure.
According to TAO,
Excessive food,
Extraneous activity
Inspire disgust.
Therefore, the follower of TAO
Moves on.
27
Good travellers leave no tracks.
Good words leave no trace.
Good counting needs no markers.
Good doors have no bolts
Yet cannot be forced.
Good knots have no rope
But cannot be untied.
In this way the Sage
Always helps people
And rejects none,
Always helps all beings,
And rejects none.
This is called practicing brightness.
Therefore the good person
Is the bad person’s teacher,
And the bad person
Is the good person’s resource.
Not to value the teacher,
Not to love the resource,
Causes great confusion even for the intelligent.
This is called the vital secret.
29
Therefore the Sage
Casts off extremes,
Casts off excess,
Casts off extravagance.
33
Knowing others is intelligent.
Knowing yourself is enlightened.
Conquering others takes force.
Conquering yourself is true strength.
Knowing what is enough is wealth.
Forging ahead shows inner resolve.
Hold your ground and you will last long.
Die without perishing and your life will endure.
36
To collect, first scatter.
To weaken, first strengthen.
To abolish, first establish.
To conclude, first initiate.
This is called subtle illumination.
Soft and weak overcome stiff and strong.
Fish cannot escape the deep pool.
A country’s sharpest weapons cannot be displayed.
37
TAO endures without a name, Yet nothing is left undone.
If kings and lords could possess it, All beings would transform themselves.
Transformed, they desire to create; I quiet them through nameless simplicity.
Then there is no desire.
No desire is serenity.
And the world settles of itself.
38
Those highest in TE take no action and don’t need to act.
Those lowest in TE take action and do need to act.
Those highest in benevolence take action but don’t need to act.
Those highest in righteousness take action and do need to act.
Those highest in propriety take action and if people don’t reciprocate roll up their sleeves and throw them out.
Therefore,
Lose TAO
And TE follows.
Lose TE
And benevolence follows.
Lose benevolence
And righteousness follows.
Lose righteousness
And propriety follows.
Propriety dilutes loyalty and sincerity: Confusion begins.
Foreknowledge glorifies the TAO: Stupidity sets in.
And so the ideal person dwells in substance, not dilution,
In reality, not glory,
Accepts one, rejects the other.
40
Reversal is TAO’s movement.
Yielding is TAO’s practice.
All things originate from being.
Being originates from non-being.
43
The softest thing in the world rides roughshod over the strongest.
Nothing enters no-space.
This teachers me the benefit of no-action.
Teaching without words,
Benefit without action –
Few in this world can attain this.
44
Name or body: which is closer?
Body or possessions: which means more?
Gain or loss: which one hurts?
Extreme love exacts a great price.
Many possessions entail heavy loss.
Know what is enough –
Abuse nothing.
Know when to stop –
Harm nothing.
This is how to last a long time.
45
Great accomplishment seems unfinished but its use is continuous.
Great fullness seems empty
But in use is inexhaustible.
Great straightness seems bent,
Great skill seems clumsy,
Great eloquence seems mute.
Exertion overcomes cold.
Calm overcomes heat.
Pure calm is the norm under heavens.
46
There is no greater calamity
Than not knowing what is enough.
There is no greater fault
Than desire for success.
Therefore,
Knowing that enough is enough is always
Enough.
48
Pursue knowledge, gain daily.
Pursue TAO, lose daily.
Lose and again lose,
Arrive at non-doing.
Non-doing – and nothing not done.
Take the entire world as nothing.
Make the least effort,
And the world escapes you.
49
The Sage has no set heart.
Ordinary people’s hearts
Become the Sage’s heart.
People who are good
I treat well.
People who are not good
I also treat well:
TE as goodness.
Trustworthy people
I trust.
Untrustworthy people
I also trust:
TE as trust.
Sages create harmony under heaven blending their hearts with the world.
Ordinary people fix their eyes and ears on them, but Sages become the world’s children.
54
Maintain the family:
TE becomes abundant.
Maintain the community:
TE becomes extensive.
Maintain the country:
TE becomes prolific.
Maintain the world:
TE becomes omnipresent.
Therefore,
Through self contemplate self,
Through family contemplate family,
Through community contemplate community,
Through country contemplate country,
Through world contemplate world.
How do I know the world?
56
Those who know don’t talk.
Those who talk don’t know.
57
Use the expected to govern the country,
Use surprise to wage war,
Use non-action to win the world.
How do I know?
Like this!
The more prohibitions and rules, The poorer people become.
The sharper people’s weapons, The more they riot.
The more skilled their techniques, The more grotesque their works.
The more elaborate the laws, The more they commit crimes.
Therefore the Sage says:
I do nothing
And people transform themselves.
I enjoy serenity
And people govern themselves.
I cultivate emptiness
And people become prosperous.
I have no desires
And people simplify themselves.
59
Governing people and serving heaven is like living off the land.
Living sparingly and responding quickly means accumulating TE.
There is nothing that cannot be overcome.
There is no limit.
You can become the country
And the country’s mother,
And nourish and extend it.
This is called deep roots, firm base.
This is the TAO of living long and seeing far.
63
Act without acting
Serve without serving
Taste without tasting
Big, little,
Many, few –
Repay hatred with TE.
Map difficult through easy
Approach great through narrow.
The most difficult things in the world
Must be accomplished through the easiest.
The greatest things in the world
Must be accomplished through the smallest.
Therefore the Sage
Never attempts great things
And so accomplishes them.
Quick promises
Means little trust.
Everything easy
Means great difficulty.
Thus for the Sage
Everything is difficult.
And so in the end
Nothing is difficult.
64
At rest is easy to hold.
Not yet impossible is easy to plan.
Brittle is easy to break.
Fine is easy to scatter.
Create before it exists.
Lead before it goes astray.
A tree too big to embrace
Is born from a slender shoot.
A nine-storey tower
Rises from a pile of earth.
A thousand-mile journey
Begins with a single step.
Act and you ruin it.
Grasp and you lose it.
Therefore the Sage
Does not act
And so does not ruin
Does not grasp
And so does not lose.
People commonly ruin their work
When they are near success.
Proceed at the end as at the beginning
And your work won’t be ruined.
Therefore the Sage
Desires no desires
Prizes no prizes
Studies no studies
And returns
To what others pass by.
The Sage
Helps all beings find their nature,
But does not presume to act.
65
Taoist rulers of old
Did not enlighten people
But left them dull.
People are difficult to govern
Because they are very clever.
Therefore,
Ruling through cleverness
Leads to rebellion.
Not ruling through cleverness
Brings good fortune.
Know these two things
And understand the enduring pattern.
Understand the enduring pattern: this is called original TE.
Original TE goes deep and far.
All things reverse.
Return.
And reach the great headwaters.
66
Rivers and seas
Can rule the hundred valleys.
Because they are good at laying low
They are lords of the valleys.
Therefore those who would be above
Must speak as if they are below.
Those who would lead
Must speak as if they are behind.
In this way the Sage dwells above
And the people are not burdened.
Dwells in front
And they are not hindered.
Therefore the whole world
Is delighted and unwearied.
Since the Sage does not contend
No one can contend with the Sage.
67
Everyone under heaven calls my TAO great,
And unlike anything else.
It is great only because
It is unlike anything else.
if it were like anything else
It would stretch and become thin.
I have three treasures
To maintain and conserve:
The first is compassion.
The second is frugality.
The third is not presuming
To be first under heaven.
Compassion leads to courage.
Frugality allows generosity.
Not presuming to be first
Creates a lasting instrument.
Nowadays,
People reject compassion
But want to be brave,
Reject frugality
But want to be generous,
Reject humility
And want to come first.
This is death.
Compassion:
Attack with it and win.
Defend with it and stand firm.
Heaven aids and protects
Through compassion.
68
The accomplished person is not aggressive.
The good soldier is not hot-tempered.
The best conqueror does not engage the enemy.
The most effective leader takes the lowest place.
This is called the TE of not contending.
This is called the power of the leader.
This is called matching Heaven’s ancient ideal.
69
There is a saying in the army:
I do not presume to be the master, But become the guest.
I do not dare advance an inch, But retreat a foot.
This is called moving without moving,
Rolling up sleeves without baring your arms,
Repelling without opposing,
Wielding without a weapon.
There is no disaster greater than Contempt for the enemy.
Contempt for the enemy –
What a treasure is lost!
Therefore,
When the fighting gets hot,
Those who grieve will conquer.
70
My words are very easy to understand,
Very easy to practice.
No one under heaven can understand them,
No one can practice them.
Words have ancestors,
Deeds have masters.
If people don’t understand this,
They don’t understand me.
Few understand me,
And that is my value.
Therefore the Sage wears rough clothing
And carries jade inside.
72
When people are not in awe of power,
Power becomes great.
Do not intrude into their homes,
Do not make their lives weary.
If you do not weary them,
They will not become weary of you.
Therefore the Sage
Has self-knowledge without self-display,
Self-love without personal pride,
Rejects one, accepts the other.
73
Courage to dare kills,
Courage not to dare saves.
One brings profit, one brings harm.
Heaven hates what it hates –
Who knows why?
Even the Sage finds it difficult.
Heaven’s TAO does not contend
But prevails,
Does not speak
But responds,
Is not summoned
But arrives,
Is utterly still
But plans all actions.
Heaven’s net is wide, wide,
Loose –
But nothing slips through.
76
Humans are born soft and weak.
They die stiff and strong.
The ten thousand plants and trees
Are born soft and tender,
And die withered and sere.
The stiff and strong
Are Death’s companions.
The soft and weak
Are Life’s companions.
Therefore,
The strongest armies do not conquer,
The greatest trees are cut down.
The strong and great sink down.
The soft and weak rise up.
77
Heaven’s TAO
Is a stretched bow,
Pulling down the top,
Pulling up the bottom.
If it’s too much, cut.
If it’s not enough,
Add on to it:
Heaven’s
TAO.
The Human Route
Is not like this,
Depriving the poor,
Offering to the rich.
Who has a surplus
And still offers it to the world?
Only those with TAO.
Therefore the Sage
Acts and expects nothing.
Accomplishes and does not linger,
Has no desire to seem worthy.
78
Nothing in the world is soft and weak as water.
But when attacking the hard and strong
Nothing can conquer so easily.
Weak overcomes strong.
Soft overcomes hard.
Everyone knows this,
No one attains it.
Therefore the Sage says:
Accept a country’s filth.
And become master of its sacred soil.
Accept a country’s ill fortune
And become king under heaven.
True words resemble their opposites.
81
Sincere words are not pretty.
Pretty words are not sincere.
Good people do not quarrel.
Quarrelsome people are not good.
The wise are not learned.
The learned are not wise.
The Sage is not acquisitive –
Has enough
By doing for others,
Has even more
By giving to others.
Heaven’s TAO
Benefits and does not harm.
The Sage’s TAO
Acts and does not contend.