CHINESE ORIGINAL
善为士者不武，善战者不怒，善胜敌者不与，善用人者为之下，是谓不争之德，是谓用人之力，是谓配天古之极。
ENGLISH · JAMES LEGGE, 1891
68.
He who in (Tao's) wars has skill Assumes no martial port; He who fights with most good will To rage makes no resort. He who vanquishes yet still Keeps from his foes apart; He whose hests men most fulfil Yet humbly plies his art.
Thus we say, 'He ne'er contends, And therein is his might.' Thus we say, 'Men's wills he bends, That they with him unite.' Thus we say, 'Like Heaven's his ends, No sage of old more bright.'
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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Conflict
The text repeatedly asks what force costs. These chapters consider weapons, rivalry, and the possibility of meeting conflict without aggression.
Conflict