WORDS & IDEAS
Wu wei 无为
Action without forcing. Acting without imposing needless effort or interference. Its meaning comes into focus through the text’s descriptions of the sage and the ruler.
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 chapterQuieting desire
不尚贤，使民不争。
Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to keep the people from rivalry among themselves; not to prize articles which are difficult to…
Read chapterActing without forcing
道常无为而无不为。
The Tao in its regular course does nothing (for the sake of doing it), and so there is nothing which it does not do. If princes and kings were able to…
Read chapterLess and less
为学日益，为道日损。
He who devotes himself to learning (seeks) from day to day to increase (his knowledge); he who devotes himself to the Tao (seeks) from day to day to…
Read chapterGoverning with stillness
以正治国，以奇用兵，以无事取天下。
A state may be ruled by (measures of) correction; weapons of war may be used with crafty dexterity; (but) the kingdom is made one's own (only) by freedom…
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…
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