CHINESE ORIGINAL
名与身孰亲？
身与货孰多？
得与亡孰病？
是故甚爱必大费，多藏必厚亡，知足不辱，知止不殆，可以长久。
ENGLISH · JAMES LEGGE, 1891
44.
Or fame or life, Which do you hold more dear? Or life or wealth, To which would you adhere? Keep life and lose those other things; Keep them and lose your life:--which brings Sorrow and pain more near?
Thus we may see, Who cleaves to fame Rejects what is more great; Who loves large stores Gives up the richer state.
Who is content Needs fear no shame. Who knows to stop Incurs no blame. From danger free Long live shall he.
Legge’s translation uses nineteenth-century English. Parentheses are the translator’s; English chapter headings are editorial reading aids. Sources & method ↗
READ IN CONTEXT
Everyday living
Water, an empty bowl, a modest home. Ordinary images open questions about desire, sufficiency, generosity, and how to live with others.
Everyday living