WORDS & IDEAS
Sheng ren 圣人
The sage. A recurring figure who teaches without display, acts without possessiveness, and makes room for other people.
Beyond opposites
天下皆知美之为美，斯恶已。
All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what ugliness is; they all know the skill of the skilful, and…
Read chapterLast becomes first
天长地久。
Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live…
Read chapterLeaving no trace
善行无辙迹，善言无瑕讁。
The skilful traveller leaves no traces of his wheels or footsteps; the skilful speaker says nothing that can be found fault with or blamed; the skilful…
Read chapterThe open heart
圣人无常心，以百姓心为心。
The sage has no invariable mind of his own; he makes the mind of the people his mind. To those who are good (to me), I am good; and to those who are not…
Read chapterBegin with the small
为无为，事无事，味无味。
(It is the way of the Tao) to act without (thinking of) acting; to conduct affairs without (feeling the) trouble of them; to taste without discerning any…
Read chapterTrue words
信言不美，美言不信。
Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere. Those who are skilled (in the Tao) do not dispute (about it); the disputatious are not skilled in…
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