Chapter 41
"When a superior scholar hears of Reason he
endeavors to practise it.
When an average scholar hears of Reason he will sometimes keep it and sometimes lose it.
When an inferior scholar hears of Reason he will greatly ridicule it.
Were it not thus ridiculed, it would as Reason be insufficient.
Therefore the poet says:
"The Reason--enlightened seem dark and black,
The Reason--advanced seem going back,
The Reason--straight-levelled seem rugged and slack.
"The high in virtue resemble a vale,
The purely white in shame must quail,
The staunchest virtue seems to fail.
"The solidest virtue seems not alert,
The purest chastity seems pervert,
The greatest square will rightness desert.
"The largest vessel is not yet complete,
The loudest sound is not speech replete,
The greatest form has no shape concrete."
Reason so long as it remains latent is unnamable.
Yet Reason alone is good for imparting and completing."
- Translated by D.T. Suzuki and Paul Carus, 1913, Chapter 41
When an average scholar hears of Reason he will sometimes keep it and sometimes lose it.
When an inferior scholar hears of Reason he will greatly ridicule it.
Were it not thus ridiculed, it would as Reason be insufficient.
Therefore the poet says:
"The Reason--enlightened seem dark and black,
The Reason--advanced seem going back,
The Reason--straight-levelled seem rugged and slack.
"The high in virtue resemble a vale,
The purely white in shame must quail,
The staunchest virtue seems to fail.
"The solidest virtue seems not alert,
The purest chastity seems pervert,
The greatest square will rightness desert.
"The largest vessel is not yet complete,
The loudest sound is not speech replete,
The greatest form has no shape concrete."
Reason so long as it remains latent is unnamable.
Yet Reason alone is good for imparting and completing."
- Translated by D.T. Suzuki and Paul Carus, 1913, Chapter 41
they devote themselves.
When the common hear of Way
they wonder if it's real or not.
And when the lowly hear of Way
they laugh out loud.
Without that laughter, it wouldn't be Way.
Hence the abiding proverbs:
Luminous Way seems dark.
Advancing Way seems retreating.
Formless Way seems manifold.
High Integrity seems low-lying.
Great whiteness seems tarnished.
Abounding Integrity seems lacking.
Abiding Integrity seems missing.
True essence seems protean.
The great square has no corners,
and the great implement completes nothing.
The great voice sounds faint,
and the great image has no shape.
Way remains hidden and nameless,
but it alone nourishes and brings to completion."
- Translated by David Hinton, Chapter 41
"When the man of highest capacities hears Tao
He does his best to put it into practice.
When the man of middling capacity hears Tao
He is in two minds about it.
When the man of low capacity hears Tao
He laughs loudly at it.
If he did not laugh, it would not be worth the name of Tao.
Therefore the proverb has it:
“The way out into the light often looks dark,
The way that goes ahead often looks as if it went back.”
The way that is least hilly often looks as if it went up and down,
The “power” that is really loftiest looks like an abyss,
What is sheerest white looks blurred.
The “power” that is most sufficing looks inadequate,
The “power” that stands firmest looks flimsy.
What is in its natural, pure state looks faded;
The largest square has no corners,
The greatest vessel takes the longest to finish,
Great music has the faintest notes,
The Great From is without shape.
For Tao is hidden and nameless.
Yet Tao alone supports all things and brings them to fulfillment."
- Translated by Arthur Waley, 1934, Chapter 41
"When great scholars heard of Tao, they diligently followed it.
When mediocre scholars heard of Tao, sometimes they kept it, sometimes they lost it.
When inferior scholars heard of Tao, they laughed at it.
Whether they laugh or whether they follow, Tao remains active.
Therefore the poets have said:
Brightness of Tao seems to be dark,
Progress in Tao seems going back,
The aim of Tao seems confused.
The highest Tao seems lowliest,
Great purity seems full of shame,
The fullest Teh seems incomplete.
Teachers of Teh have lost their zeal
And certain Truth appears to change.
A great square with inner angles,
A great vase unfinished,
A great voice never heard,
A great Image with inner form.
Tao is hid within its Name,
But by Tao the Masters bless,
And all things bring to perfectness."
- Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 41
上士聞道, 勤而行之.
中士聞道, 若存若亡, 下士聞道, 大笑之.
不笑不足以為道.
故建言有之, 明道若昧.
進道若退.
夷道.
若纇???.
上德若谷.
太白若辱.
廣德若不足.
建德若偷.
質真若渝.
大方無隅.
大器晚成.
大音希聲.
大象無形.
道隱無名.
夫唯道, 善貸且成.
- Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 41
shang shih wên tao, ch'in erh hsing chih.
chung shih wén tao, jo ts'un jo wang, hsia shih wên tao, ta hsiao chih.
pu hsiao pu tsu yi wei tao.
ku chien yen chê chih.
ming tao jo mei.
chin tao.
jo t'ui yi tao jo lei.
shang tê jo ku.
ta pai jo ju.
kuang tê jo pu tsu.
chien tê jo t'ou.
chih chên jo yü.
ta fang wu yü.
ta ch'i wan ch'eng.
ta yin hsi shêng.
ta hsiang wu hsing.
tao yin wu ming.
fu wei tao shan tai ch'ieh ch'êng.
- Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 41
"Scholars of the highest class, when they hear about the Tao, earnestly carry it into practice.
Scholars of the middle class, when they have heard about it, seem now to keep it and now to lose it.
Scholars of the lowest class, when they have heard about it, laugh greatly at it.
If it were not laughed at, it would not be fit to be the Tao.
Therefore the sentence-makers have thus expressed themselves:
'The Tao, when brightest seen, seems light to lack;
Who progress in it makes, seems drawing back;
Its even way is like a rugged track.
Its highest virtue from the vale doth rise;
Its greatest beauty seems to offend the eyes;
And he has most whose lot the least supplies.
Its firmest virtue seems but poor and low;
Its solid truth seems change to undergo;
Its largest square doth yet no corner show
A vessel great, it is the slowest made;
Loud is its sound, but never word it said;
A semblance great, the shadow of a shade.'
The Tao is hidden, and has no name; but it is the Tao which is skilful at imparting
to all things what they need and making them complete."
- Translated by James Legge, 1891, Chapter 41
"When superior people hear of the Way, they carry it out with diligence.
When middling people hear of the way, it sometimes seems to be there, sometimes not.
When lesser people hear of the Way, they ridicule it greatly.
If they didn't laugh at it, it wouldn't be the Way.
So there are constructive sayings on this: The Way of illumination seems dark, the Way of advancement seems retiring, the Way of equality seems to categorize; higher virtue seems empty, greater purity seems ignominious, broad virtue seems insufficient,
constructive virtue seems careless.
Simple honesty seems changeable, great range has no boundaries, great vessels are finished late; the great sound has a rarefied tone, the great image has no form, the Way hides in namelessness.
Only the Way can enhance and perfect."
- Translated by Thomas Cleary, 1991, Chapter 41
"Los estudiantes sabios escuchan al Tao
y lo practican diligentemente.
Los estudiantes mediocres escuchan al Tao
y lo abandonan una y otra vez.
Los estudiantes vulgares escuchan al Tao
y se ríen de él.
Si gente como esa no se riera,
el Tao no sería lo que es.
En consecuencia se dice que:
El pasado brillante parece empañado.
Progresar parece retroceder.
El modo fácil parece arduo.
La mayor Virtud parece vacía.
La gran pureza parece sombría.
La Virtud más sana parece inadecuada.
La fuerza de la Virtud parece frágil.
La Virtud real parece irreal.
El perfecto cuadrado parece sin ángulos.
Los grandes talentos maduran tarde.
Las notas más agudas son difíciles de oír.
Las más grandes formas no tienen forma.
El Tao es oculto y sin nombre.
Sólo el Tao alimenta y
logra que todo se realice."
- Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Capitulo 41
"The true student hears of the Tao; he is diligent and practices it.
The average student hear of it; sometimes he appears to be attentive, then again he is inattentive.
The half hearted student hears of it; he loudly derides it.
If it did not provoke ridicule it would not be worthy of the name Tao.
Again there are those whose only care is phraseology.
The brilliancy of the Tao is an obscurity;
the advance of the Tao is a retreat;
the equality of the Tao is an inequality;
the higher energy is as cosmic space;
the greatest purity is as uncleanness;
the widest virtue is as if insufficient;
established virtue is as if furtive;
the truest essence is as imperfection;
the most perfect square is cornerless;
the largest vessel is last completed;
the loudest sound has fewest tones;
the grandest conception is formless.
The Tao is concealed and nameless,
yet it is the Tao alone which excels in imparting and completing."
- Translated by C. Spurgeon Medhurst, 1905, Chapter 41
Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching
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, and other resources for the Chapter.
