Dao De Jing by Laozi
Chapter 45
Chapter 45
"Perfection cannot be attained,
but it can be noticed.
If you pay full attention
to what seems flawed and ordinary
you will notice the perfection
hiding beneath appearances.
If you pay full attention to each other
you will notice how perfectly
you are each becoming who you really are.
By seeing the perfection in what is
you allow the creation
of what is not."
- Translated by William Martin, 1999, Chapter 45
but it can be noticed.
If you pay full attention
to what seems flawed and ordinary
you will notice the perfection
hiding beneath appearances.
If you pay full attention to each other
you will notice how perfectly
you are each becoming who you really are.
By seeing the perfection in what is
you allow the creation
of what is not."
- Translated by William Martin, 1999, Chapter 45
"What is most perfect seems imperfect,
But using it doesn't use it up.
What is most full seems empty,
But using it doesn't wear it down.
Great straightness seems crooked;
Great skill seems clumsy;
Great eloquence seems hesitant.
Movement conquers cold,
But stillness conquers heat.
Clearness and serenity
Are beneath-heaven's norm."
- Translated by Herrymon Maurer, 1985, Chapter 45
But using it doesn't use it up.
What is most full seems empty,
But using it doesn't wear it down.
Great straightness seems crooked;
Great skill seems clumsy;
Great eloquence seems hesitant.
Movement conquers cold,
But stillness conquers heat.
Clearness and serenity
Are beneath-heaven's norm."
- Translated by Herrymon Maurer, 1985, Chapter 45
"Esteem lightly your greatest accomplishment, your patience will not fail.
Reckon your great fullness to be emptiness, your strength will not become exhausted.
Count your rectitude as foolishness,
Know your cleverness to be stupidity,
Recognize your eloquence to be stammering words,
And you will find that
As movement overcomes cold, and as stillness overcomes heat, even so, he who knows the true secret of tranquility
Will become a pattern for all mankind."
- Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 45
Reckon your great fullness to be emptiness, your strength will not become exhausted.
Count your rectitude as foolishness,
Know your cleverness to be stupidity,
Recognize your eloquence to be stammering words,
And you will find that
As movement overcomes cold, and as stillness overcomes heat, even so, he who knows the true secret of tranquility
Will become a pattern for all mankind."
- Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 45
"True perfection seems flawed
Yet its usefulness is never exhausted.
True fulfillment seems empty
Yet its usefulness is infinite.
True straightness seems crooked,
Great skill appears easy,
Great eloquence sounds awkward.
Cold overcomes heat.
Tranquility conquers agitation.
Purity and stillness is the universal ideal."
- Translated by John R. Mabry, Chapter 45
Yet its usefulness is never exhausted.
True fulfillment seems empty
Yet its usefulness is infinite.
True straightness seems crooked,
Great skill appears easy,
Great eloquence sounds awkward.
Cold overcomes heat.
Tranquility conquers agitation.
Purity and stillness is the universal ideal."
- Translated by John R. Mabry, Chapter 45
"Great perfection appears defective,
but its usefulness is not diminished.
Great fullness appears empty,
but its usefulness is not impaired.
Great straightness seems crooked,
Great cleverness seems clumsy,
Great triumph seems awkward.
Bustling about vanquishes cold,
Standing still vanquishes heat.
Pure and still, one can put things right everywhere under heaven."
- Translated by Victor Mair, Chapter 45
"The greatest accomplishments seem imperfect,
yet their usefulness is not diminished.
The greatest fullness seems empty,
yet it will be inexhaustible.
The greatest straightness seems crooked.
The most valued skill seems like clumsiness.
The greatest speech seems full of stammers.
Movement overcomes the cold,
and stillness overcomes the heat.
That which is pure and still is the universal ideal."
- Translated by John H. McDonald, Chapter 45
"The greatest attainment is as though incomplete, but its utility remains unimpaired.
The greatest fullness is as a void; but its utility is inexhaustible.
The greatest uprightness is as crookedness; the greatest cleverness as clumsiness; the greatest eloquence as reticence.
Motion overcomes cold; stillness conquers heat.
Purity and stillness are the world’s standards."
- Translated by C. Spurgeon Medhurst, 1905, Chapter 45
The greatest fullness is as a void; but its utility is inexhaustible.
The greatest uprightness is as crookedness; the greatest cleverness as clumsiness; the greatest eloquence as reticence.
Motion overcomes cold; stillness conquers heat.
Purity and stillness are the world’s standards."
- Translated by C. Spurgeon Medhurst, 1905, Chapter 45
Chapter 41 Sameness and Difference, Hearing of the Tao, Hidden and Nameless Tao, The Unreality of Appearance, Path of Contraries and Opposites, Bringing to Completion, Laughing it Off, 同異
Chapter 42 Transformations of the Tao, Reason's Modifications, Avoid Violence, Unnatural Death, One Produces Many, 道化
Chapter 43 At One with the Tao, Quiet, Softness, Flexibility, Emptiness, The Function of the Universal, No Expectations, Not Acting, Overcoming the Impossible, Wordless Teaching, 偏用
Chapter 44 Sufficiency, Cautions, Setting Up Precepts, 立戒
Chapter 45 Changes, Opposites, Contraries, Tranquility, Great or Overflowing Virtue, Stillness, The Virtue of Greatness, Great Accomplishment, 洪德
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