CHINESE ORIGINAL
天地不仁，以万物为刍狗；圣人不仁，以百姓为刍狗。
天地之间，其犹橐籥乎？
虚而不屈，动而愈出。
多言数穷，不如守中。
ENGLISH · JAMES LEGGE, 1891
Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish to be benevolent; they deal with all things as the dogs of grass are dealt with. The sages do not act from (any wish to be) benevolent; they deal with the people as the dogs of grass are dealt with.
May not the space between heaven and earth be compared to a bellows?
'Tis emptied, yet it loses not its power; 'Tis moved again, and sends forth air the more. Much speech to swift exhaustion lead we see; Your inner being guard, and keep it free.
Legge’s translation uses nineteenth-century English. Parentheses are the translator’s; English chapter headings are editorial reading aids. Sources & method ↗
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The Way
The source that cannot be fully named. Explore the language of emptiness, return, and the patterns through which things arise.
The Way