Lao Tzu: English Translations I

LAO TZU ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS I An unbending tree breaks easily. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Nothing is weaker or gentler than water, yet nothing can prevail against it. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch That the yielding overcomes the resistant is known by all men yet utilized by none. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Why does the Sea exceed all streams? Because it does not exalt itself but is the more lowly. Even so, the sage. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch The sage wears coarse clothes while concealing jade within his bosom. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch The sage does not hoard; having bestowed everything on others, he smiles, content. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch When his last scrap has been spent on others, the sage is the richer still. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch The sage does not exalt himself; he prefers what is within to what is without. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Heaven’s net is vast but nothing slips through its mesh. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Daring boldness kills; boldness in not daring saves. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch To recognize knowledge as ignorance is a noble insight. To consider ignorance knowledge, a disease. Because the sage recognizes flaws, he can be flawless. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Ruling a large state is like broiling a bony fish. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Ruling a large state is like poaching an octopus. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch The Way of Heaven is like stringing a bow: it brings down the high as it elevates the low. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch The wise don’t aggrandize their virtue. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch The wise don’t vice their virtue. —Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Keywords/Tags: Lao Tzu, English Translations, Chinese, water, sea, sage, wise, wisdom, way, virtue, Heaven, net, tree, men, fish, knowledge, ignorance, octopus