Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, Chapter 38

Daodejing, Laozi
Chapter 38

"A truly good man is not aware of his goodness,
And is therefore good.
A foolish man tries to be good,
And is therefore not good.
A truly good man does nothing,
Yet leaves nothing undone.
A foolish man is always doing,
Yet much remains to be done.
When a truly kind man does something, he leaves nothing undone.
When a just man does something, he leaves a great deal to be done.
When a disciplinarian does something and no one responds,
He rolls up his sleeves in an attempt to enforce order.
Therefore when Tao is lost, there is goodness.
When goodness is lost, there is kindness.
When kindness is lost, there is justice.
When justice is lost, there ritual.
Now ritual is the husk of faith and loyalty, the beginning of confusion.
Knowledge of the future is only a flowery trapping of Tao.
It is the beginning of folly.
Therefore the truly great man dwells on what is real and not what is on the surface,
On the fruit and not the flower.
Therefore accept the one and reject the other."
-  Translated by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English, 1989, Chapter 38  


"Those who possessed in highest degree the attributes of the Tao did not seek to show them, and therefore they possessed them in fullest measure.
Those who possessed in a lower degree those attributes sought how not to lose them, and therefore they did not possess them in fullest measure.
Those who possessed in the highest degree those attributes did nothing with a purpose, and had no need to do anything.  
Those who possessed them in a lower degree were always doing, and had need to be so doing.
Those who possessed the highest benevolence were always seeking to carry it out, and had no need to be doing so.
Those who possessed the highest righteousness were always seeking to carry it out, and had need to be so doing.
Those who possessed the highest sense of propriety were always seeking to show it, and when men did not respond to it, they bared the arm and marched up to them.
Thus it was that when the Tao was lost, its attributes appeared;
When its attributes were lost, benevolence appeared;
When benevolence was lost, righteousness appeared;
When righteousness was lost, the proprieties appeared.
Now propriety is the attenuated form of leal-heartedness and good faith, and is also the commencement of disorder.
Swift apprehension is only a flower of the Tao, and is the beginning of stupidity.
Thus it is that the Great man abides by what is solid, and eschews what is flimsy; dwells with the fruit and not with the flower.
It is thus that he puts away the one and makes choice of the other."
-  Translated by James Legge, 1891, Chapter 38 


"A man of sure fitness, without making a point of his fitness,
Stays fit;
A man of unsure fitness, assuming an appearance of fitness,
Becomes unfit.
The man of sure fitness never makes an act of it
Nor considers what it may profit him;
The man of unsure fitness makes an act of it
And considers what it may profit him.
However a man with a kind heart proceed,
He forgets what it may profit him;
However a man with a just mind proceed,
He remembers what it may profit him;
However a man of conventional conduct proceed, if he be not complied with
Out goes his fist to enforce compliance.
Here is what happens:
Losing the way of life, men rely first on their fitness;
Losing fitness, they turn to kindness;
Losing kindness, they turn to justness;
Losing justness, they turn to convention.
Conventions are fealty and honesty gone to waste,
They are the entrance of disorder.
False teachers of life use flowery words
And start nonsense.
The man of stamina stays with the root
Below the tapering,
Stays with the fruit
Beyond the flowering:
He has his no and he has his yes."
-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 38

"The highest virtue is un-virtue, therefore it has virtue,

Inferior virtue virtue loses not, and so has none,

The highest virtue is non-action, and thereby does nothing,

Inferior virtue acts it, and exists by acting done.

The highest benevolence acts it, but thereby does nothing,

The highest righteousness acts it, and acting has thereby,

The highest propriety acts it, and then, when none respond,

It stretches forth its arm, and enforces its reply.

 

So, when the Tao is lost to sight, its attributes are shown,

When these are lost to sight, we find Benevolence appear,

When Benevolence is lost to sight, then Righteousness comes on,

And when Self-righteousness is lost, Propriety is here.

Now, these propriety-things are shams of loyalty and faith,

Forerunners of disorder, which soon will come to be,

Quick-wittedness is but the flimsy flower of the Tao,

And is the first beginning of man's incapacity.

With the solid dwells the solid man, not with the empty shell,

With the mature fruit he abides, but with the flower not he,

The latter he avoids, that the former his may be."
-  Translated by Isaac Winter Heysinger, 1903, Chapter 38  

上德不德, 是以有德.
下德不失德, 是以無德. 
上德無為而無以為.
下德為之, 而有以為. 
上仁為之, 而無以為.
上義為之, 而有以為.   
上禮為之.
而莫之應.
則攘臂而扔之. 
故失道而後德. 
失德而後仁.
失仁而後義失義.
而後禮. 
夫禮者, 忠信之薄, 而亂之首.   
前識者, 道之華而愚之始. 
是以大丈夫處其厚, 不居其薄.
處其實, 不居其華. 
故去彼取此. 
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 38

shang tê pu tê, shih yi yu tê.
hsia tê pu shih tê, shih yi wu tê.
shang tê wu wei erh wu yi wei.
hsia tê wei chih, erh yu yi wei.
shang jên wei chih, erh wu yi wei.
shang yi wei chih, erh yu yi wei.
shang ki wei chih.
erh mo chih ying.
tsê jang pi erh jêng chih.
ku shih tao erh hou tê. 
shih tê erh hou jên.
shih jên erh hou yi shih yi.
erh hou li.
fu li chê, chung hsin chih pao, erh luan chih shou. 
ch'ien shih chê, tao chih hua erh yü chih shih.
shih yi ta chang fu ch'u ch'i hou, pu chü ch'i pao.
ch'u ch'i shih, pu chü ch'i hua.
ku ch'ü pi ch'ü tz'u.
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 38 

"Superior energy is non-action, hence it is energy.
Inferior energy will not resign action; hence, it is not energy.
Superior energy is actionless because motiveless.
Inferior energy acts from motive.
Superior magnanimity is active but motiveless.
Superior equity is active from motive.
Superior propriety is active; is bares its arm and asserts itself when it meets with no response.
Thus as the Tao recedes there are energies; as the energies recede there  is magnanimity; 
as magnanimity recedes there is equity; as equity recedes there is propriety.
Inasmuch as propriety is the attenuation of conscientiousness it is the origin of disorder.
The beginnings of consciousness are flower of Tao, but the commencement of delusion.
Therefore the men who are great live with that which is substantial, 
they do not abide with realities, 
they do not remain with what is showy. 
The one they discard, the other they hold."
-  Translated by C. Spurgeon Medhurst, 1905, Chapter 38 

"La virtud superior no se precia de virtuosa,
esa es su virtud.
La virtud inferior aprecia su propia virtud,
por eso no tiene virtud.
La virtud superior no actúa por intereses personales.
La virtud inferior sí actúa por intereses personales.
La bondad actúa sin requerir de motivaciones para hacerlo.
La justicia actúa, pero requiere de motivaciones para hacerlo.
El ritual actúa
y, al no hallar respuesta, la impone por la fuerza.
Así, perdido el Tao, queda la virtud.
Perdida la virtud, queda la bondad.
Perdida la bondad, queda la justicia.
Perdida la justicia, queda el ritual.
El ritual es sólo la apariencia de la fe y la lealtad,
pero es en realidad el origen de todo desorden y confusión.
La precognición es sólo una flor del Tao
y suele dar origen a la necedad.
Así, el sabio
observa lo profundo y no lo superficial.
Se atiene al fruto y no a la flor,
rechaza esto y prefiere aquello."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Capitulo 38


"When conduct is of high virtue, one is unconscious of virtue, thus he can accomplish virtue.
When conduct is of low virtue, one is conscious of virtue, thus he cannot accomplish virtue.
High virtue does not contrive and has no desire for gain.
Low virtue also does not contrive but has desire for gain.
High benevolence does contrive yet it has no desire for gain.
High righteousness does contrive and also has desire for gain.
High ritual does not only contrive and desire, but is also violent:
if it finds no response at all, it resorts to fighting its way out with stretched arms.
Hence when Dao is losing, then its virtues are losing.
When virtues are losing, benevolence is encouraged.
When benevolence is losing, the righteousness is encouraged.
When righteousness is losing, then rituals are encouraged.
Rituals stand for the lack of loyalty and reliability and are the beginning of disorder.
Divination stands for the emotional performance of Dao and is the beginning of stupidity.
Therefore the superior man prefers to possess few things rather than an abundance, to have insight rather than to see superficially.
Thus he prefers insight to superficiality."
-  Translated by Tang-Zi Chang, Chapter 38

Chapter 38 of the Tao Te Ching

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching

English Language Translators' Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

 A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo on a Chapter of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes at least 16 different translations or interpolations of the Chapter in English, two Spanish translations, the Chinese characters for the Chapter, a Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin Romanization of the Mandarin Chinese words for the Chapter, recommended reading lists, a detailed bibliography, indexing by key words and terms for the Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization, and other resources for the Chapter.