Dao De Jing, Laozi, Chapter 63

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 63 

"Do without "doing."
Get involved without manipulating.
Taste without tasting.
Make the great small,
The many, few. 
Respond to anger with virtue.
Deal with difficulties while they are still easy.
Hand the great while it is still small. 
The difficult problems in life
Always start off being simple.
Great affairs always start off being small.
Therefore the sage never deals with the great
And is able to actualize his greatness. 
Now light words generate little belief,
Much ease turns into much difficulty.
Therefore the sage treats things as though they were difficult,
And hence, never has difficulty."
-  Translated by Charles Mueller, 2004, Chapter 63  


"It is the way of the Tao to act without thinking of acting;
To conduct affairs without feeling the trouble of them;
To taste without discerning any flavor;
To consider what is small as great, and a few as many;
And to recompense injury with kindness.
The master of it anticipates things that are difficult while they are easy,
And does things that would become great while they are small.
All difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a previous state in which they were easy,
And all great things from one in which they were small.
Therefore the sage, while he never does what is great, is able on that account to accomplish the greatest things.
He who lightly promises is sure to keep but little faith;
He who is continually thinking things easy is sure to find them difficult.
Therefore the sage sees difficulty even in what seems easy, and so never has any difficulties."
-  Translated by James Legge, 1891, Chapter 63


"Act non-action; undertake no undertaking; taste the tasteless.
The Sage desires the desireless, and prizes no articles that are difficult to get.
He learns no learning, but reviews what others have passed through.
Thus he lets all things develop in their own natural way, and does not venture to act.
Regard the small as the great; regard the few as many.
Manage the difficult while they are easy;
Manage the great while they are small.
All difficult things in the world start from the easy.
All the great things in the world start from the small.
The tree that fills a man's arms arises from a tender shoot.
The nine-storied tower is raised from a heap of earth;
A thousand miles' journey begins from the spot under one's feet.
Therefore the Sage never attempts great things, and thus he can achieve what is great.
He who makes easy promises will seldom keep his word;
He who regards many things as easy will find many difficulties.
Therefore the Sage regards things as difficult, and consequently never has difficulties."
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 63 


為無為.
事無事.
味無味.
大小多少.
報怨以德.
圖難於其易.
為大於其細.
天下難事必作於易.
天下大事必作於細.
是以聖人終不為大, 故能成其大.
夫輕諾必寡信.
多易必多難.
是以聖人猶難之.
故終無難矣.
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 63  


wei wu we.
shih wu shih.
wei wu wei.
ta hsiao to shao.
pao yüan yi tê.
t'u nan yü ch'i yi. 
wei ta yü ch'i hsi.
t'ien hsia nan shih pi tso yü yi.
t'ien hsia ta shih pi tso yü hsi.
shih yi shêng jên chung pu wei ta, ku nêng ch'êng ch'i ta.
fu ch'ing no pi kua hsin.
to yi pi to nan.
shih yi shêng jên yu nan chih.
ku chung wu nan yi.
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 63  

"Act the non-acting, let dealing go on without dealings,

In the tasteless find taste, let the great in the little be known,

Find in the few that therein are embodied the many,

And recompense hatred with deeds of goodness alone.

Consider what may become difficult, while it is easy,

Manage the great, by taking it while it is small,

From the easy arise all the difficult things under heaven,

And affairs that are great their source in the little recall.

So the sage, not acting the great, the great will accomplish,

Who promises lightly lacks truth, and they who believe

Many things to be easy will find many hard, while the sage

With the difficult, even, finds nothing too hard to achieve."
-  Translated by Isaac Winter Heysinger, 1903, Chapter 63

"Actuar y no actuar,
realizar y no realizar,
sabroso e insípido,
grande y pequeño,
mucho y poco,
en todo rige la virtud.
Acomete la dificultad por su lado más fácil.
Ejecuta lo grande comenzando por lo más pequeño.
Las cosas más difíciles se hacen siempre abordándolas
en lo que es más fácil,
y las cosas grandes en lo que es más pequeño.
Por eso el sabio nunca realiza cosas grandes,
y así es como puede llevar a cabo grandes cosas.
El que promete a la ligera,
no cumple con su promesa.
El que todo lo encuentra fácil,
hallará la vida difícil.
Por eso, el sabio en todo considera la dificultad,
y en nada la halla."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Tao Te Ching, Capítulo 63

"Do things non-coercively (wuwei),
Be non-interfering in going about your business (wushi),
And savor the flavor of the unadulterated in what you eat.Treat the small as great and the few as many. 
Requite enmity with character (de).
Take account of the difficult while it is still easy,
And deal with the large while it is still tiny.  
The most difficult things in the world originate with the easy,
And the largest issues originate with the tiny.
Thus, it is because the sages never try to do great things
That they are indeed able to be great.
One who makes promises lightly is sure to have little credibility;
One who finds everything easy is certain to have lots of difficulties. 
Thus, it is because even the sages pay careful attention to such things
That they are always free of difficulties."
-  Translated by Roger T. Ames and David L Hall, 2003, Chapter 63  

Chapter 63 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