Chapter 19

絕聖棄智，民利百倍；絕仁棄義，民復孝慈；絕巧棄利，盜賊無有。此三者以為文不足，故令有所屬﹕見素抱樸，少私寡慾。

Cut off so-called sageliness and cast aside so-called wisdom, and the people will benefit a hundredfold; cut off so-called humaneness and cast aside so-called righteousness, and the people will return to filial piety and kindness; cut off cunning and cast aside profit, and thieves and robbers will disappear. These three statements are still not enough, so people must be given something to adhere to: show your plain nature, embrace the simplicity of uncarved wood, reduce selfishness and lessen desires.

絕學無憂，唯之與阿，相去幾何？善之與惡，相去若何？人之所畏，不可不畏。

Cut off that kind of learning and you will have no worries. How much difference is there between a polite assent and a scornful rebuke? How great is the difference between beautiful and ugly? What others fear, I cannot but fear as well.

荒兮其未央哉﹗

How vast and boundless, the distinctions between these have no end!

眾人熙熙，如享太牢，如春登臺。

The multitudes bustle merrily, as though enjoying the grand feast of the supreme sacrifice, as though climbing a terrace to look out in spring.

我獨泊兮其未兆，如嬰兒之未孩；

I alone am calm and quiet, without a sign of movement, like an infant who has not yet learned to smile;

儽儽兮若無所歸。

weary and drained, like one with no home to return to.

眾人皆有餘，而我獨若遺。

Everyone has more than enough; I alone seem to have lost something.

我愚人之心也哉﹗

Mine is truly the mind of a fool!

沌沌兮，

Muddled and confused,

俗人昭昭，

ordinary people are all so bright and clear,

我獨昏昏。俗人察察，

while I alone am dim and obscure. Ordinary people are all so shrewd and discerning,

我獨悶悶。澹兮其若海，

while I alone am dull and bewildered. Calm, like the sea;

飂兮若無止。

drifting, like a high wind that never stops.

眾人皆有以，

Everyone has a set of skills,

而我獨頑似鄙。

while I alone am stubborn and dull, close to boorish.

我獨異於人，而貴食母。

I am just different from the multitudes; what I value is that I take my nourishment from the mother that gives birth to all things.

孔德之容，惟道是從。

The appearance of great virtue simply follows the Dao.

道之為物，惟恍惟惚。

As for the Dao, it is vague and indistinct.

惚兮恍兮，其中有象；恍兮惚兮，其中有物。

Indistinct and vague, yet within it there is an image; vague and indistinct, yet within it there is a thing.

窈兮冥兮，其中有精；

Deep and dim, yet within it there is an essence;

其精甚真，其中有信。

this essence is utterly real, and within it there is good faith that can be verified.

自今及古，其名不去，

From the present back to remote antiquity, its name has never gone away,

以閱眾甫。

and by it we can observe the beginning of all things.

吾何以知眾甫之狀哉？以此。

How do I know the condition of the beginning of all things? By this.

曲則全，

The bent is preserved whole,

枉則直，

the crooked becomes straight,

窪則盈，

the hollow becomes full,

敝則新，

the worn becomes new,

少則得，多則惑。

taking little brings gain, and taking much brings confusion.

是以聖人抱一為天下式。

Therefore the sage embraces the "One" as the standard for the world.

不自見故明，不自是故彰，不自伐故有功，不自矜故長。夫唯不爭，故天下莫能與之爭。古之所謂曲則全者，豈虛言哉！誠全而歸之。

Not displaying himself, he is clear; not asserting himself, he is distinguished; not boasting, he has merit; not being proud, he lasts. Precisely because he does not contend, no one in the world can contend with him. What the ancients said, "the bent is preserved whole," is it empty talk? Truly, one is preserved whole and returns to the Dao.

希言自然。

To speak little is natural.

故飄風不終朝，驟雨不終日。孰為此者？天地。天地尚不能久，而況於人乎？

Therefore a violent wind cannot last a whole morning, and a downpour cannot last a whole day. Who makes them? Heaven and earth. If heaven and earth cannot make them last, how much less can people?

故從事於道者，道者同於道，

Therefore, one who follows the Dao: those who seek the Dao become one with the Dao,

德者同於德，

those who seek virtue become one with virtue,

失者同於失。

and those who seek loss become one with loss.

同於道者，道亦樂得之；同於德者，德亦樂得之；同於失者，失亦樂得之。

The Dao is glad to receive one who is one with the Dao; virtue is glad to receive one who is one with virtue; and loss is glad to receive one who is one with loss.

信不足焉，有不信焉。

When the ruler's good faith is insufficient, the people naturally do not trust him.

企者不立，

One who stands on tiptoe cannot stand firm,

跨者不行，自見者不明，自是者不彰，自伐者無功，自矜者不長。其在道也，曰餘食贅行。

and one who strides widely cannot go far. One who displays himself is not clear, one who asserts himself is not distinguished, one who boasts has no merit, and one who is proud does not last. From the standpoint of the Dao, these are called leftover food and useless growths.

物或惡之，故有道者不處。

Even things in the world loathe them, so one who has the Dao does not conduct himself in this way.