Gravity is the source of lightness,

Calm, the master of haste.

A lone traveller will journey all day, watching over his belongings;

Yet once safe in his bed he will lose them in sleep.

The captain of a great vessel will not act lightly or hastily.

Acting lightly, he loses sight of the world,

Acting hastily, he loses control of himself.

A captain can not treat his great ship as a small boat;

Rather than glitter like jade

He must stand like stone.

The perfect traveller leaves no trail to be followed;

The perfect speaker leaves no question to be answered;

The perfect accountant leaves no working to be completed;

The perfect container leaves no lock to be closed;

The perfect knot leaves no end to be ravelled.

So the sage nurtures all men

And abandons no one.

He accepts everything

And rejects nothing.

He attends to the smallest details.

So the strong must guide the weak,

For the weak are raw material to the strong.

If the guide is not respected,

Or the material is not cared for,

Confusion will result, no matter how clever one is.

This is the secret of perfection:

When raw wood is carved, it becomes a tool;

When a man is employed, he becomes a tool;

The perfect carpenter leaves no wood to be carved.

Using the male, being female,

Being the entrance of the world,

You embrace harmony

And become as a newborn.

Using strength, being weak,

Being the root of the world,

You complete harmony

And become as unshaped wood.

Using the light, being dark,

Being the world,

You perfect harmony

And return to the Way.

Those who wish to change the world

According with their desire

Cannot succeed.

The world is shaped by the Way;

It cannot be shaped by the self.

Trying to change it, you damage it;

Trying to possess it, you lose it.

So some will lead, while others follow.

Some will be warm, others cold

Some will be strong, others weak.

Some will get where they are going

While others fall by the side of the road.

So the sage will be neither wasteful nor violent.

Powerful men are well advised not to use violence,

For violence has a habit of returning;

Thorns and weeds grow wherever an army goes,

And lean years follow a great war.

A general is well advised

To achieve nothing more than his orders:

Not to take advantage of his victory.

Nor to glory, boast or pride himself;

To do what is dictated by necessity,

But not by choice.

For even the strongest force will weaken with time,

And then its violence will return, and kill it.

Armies are tools of violence;

They cause men to hate and fear.

The sage will not join them.

His purpose is creation;

Their purpose is destruction.

Weapons are tools of violence,

Not of the sage;

He uses them only when there is no choice,

And then calmly, and with tact,

For he finds no beauty in them.

Whoever finds beauty in weapons

Delights in the slaughter of men;

And who delights in slaughter

Cannot content himself with peace.

So slaughters must be mourned

And conquest celebrated with a funeral.

The Way has no true shape,

And therefore none can control it.

If a ruler could control the Way

All things would follow

In harmony with his desire,

And sweet rain would fall,

Effortlessly slaking every thirst.

The Way is shaped by use,

But then the shape is lost.

Do not hold fast to shapes

But let sensation flow into the world

As a river courses down to the sea.

Who understands the world is learned;

Who understands the self is enlightened.

Who conquers the world has strength;

Who conquers the self has harmony.

Who is determined has purpose;

Who is contented has wealth.

Who defends his home may long endure;

Who surrenders his home may long survive it.

The Way flows and ebbs, creating and destroying,

Implementing all the world, attending to the tiniest details,

Claiming nothing in return.

It nurtures all things,

Though it does not control them;

It has no intention,

So it seems inconsequential.

It is the substance of all things;

Though it does not control them;

It has no exception,

So it seems all-important.

The sage would not control the world;

He is in harmony with the world.

If you offer music and food

Strangers may stop with you;

But if you accord with the Way

All the people of the world will keep you

In safety, health, community, and peace.

The Way lacks art and flavour;

It can neither be seen nor heard,

But its benefit cannot be exhausted.

To reduce someone's influence, first expand it;

To reduce someone's force, first increase it;

To overthrow someone, first exalt them;

To take from someone, first give to them.

This is the subtlety by which the weak overcome the strong:

Fish should not leave their depths,

And swords should not leave their scabbards.