Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Dao De Jing 8



Dao De Jing 8

The highest virtue is like water. 
Water’s virtue comes from its benefit to the ten thousand things; 
without striving against this, it settles in the low place all men despise, and so is like the Dao.   
The virtue of a residence comes from its site, 
that of the mind comes from depth, 
that of friendship from kindness, 
that of words from truth, 
that of governing from promoting peace and order, 
that of work from competence, 
that of action from timeliness. 
In the absence of conflict there is no blame.

Laozi, 道德經
Translation by John Hayes
Unlike with my original poetry & poetry translations, I don’t asset a copyright claim on my translation of the Dao De Jing. It may be freely used under the terms of the Creative Commons license.


Image links to its source on Wiki Commons:
“Scholar by a Waterfall” – Ma Yuan (Chinese, active ca. 1190–1225), Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279): ink & color on silk




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