XII

Brilliance and splendors blind the eye
Competition and the hunt for fulfillment madden the mind
Grasping wealth leaves the hand useless for all else
Louder, faster, brighter: these things drown the senses

The tao is subtle, quiet, soft
A thread easily lost in the tumult
Therefore a wise leader feeds the belly and not the senses
Brings the people back rather than driving them on

XVII

The greatest leaders are never seen, their presence is never felt
Lesser rulers are loved and praised
Lesser still are hated, and obeyed through fear
And the least are despised and ignored

If you would lead people, trust them to do the right thing
When a leader accomplishes something using the tao
He steps back, moves on to something else
And lets the people praise themselves

XVIII

What happens when the nation wanders from the tao?
The people first try to be polite, assuming things will balance themselves
Then they try to be informed, or clever, or wise, and search for solutions
Then they turn to morality, like drowning men clinging to driftwood
And only after that, when the whole land is in turmoil
Do they throw up their hands and cry for strong and loyal leaders

XXV

There was something formed and complete
Before heaven and earth were born
Quiet, still, pure, deep; changeless and self-sufficient
Perhaps it is the womb in which the world grew
It has no name, properly speaking, though I call it the tao

If I had to describe it, I'd call it 'The Spirit of Quiet Motion'
It is never still in the here and now
Always leaving, always absent, always returning, always here
If the tao is like this, then so is heaven, and so is earth,
And so could be leaders, if they would be the spirit of a nation

Men conform to the actions of their leaders
Let the leaders conform to the patterns of the earth
As the earth conforms to the cycles of the heavens
And the heavens conform to the motion of the tao
And as the tao must, by necessity, conform to itself

XXVI

As the heaviest part of anything must be at the bottom
So all activity must center on quietness
Only an idiot, while traveling, would wander away from his luggage
Until a safe and secure place is reached
So how can a leader treat a nation otherwise
Than as an extension of her own body?

Treat people as unimportant and they will think the same of you
Leave them behind to pursue your own interests, and when you look again
They will not be there

XXVII

Skilled travelers always find the easy path
Skilled speakers talk freely, on any subject
Skilled counters never need to use paper and pencil
A door can be sealed with neither bolt nor lock
A knot tied without rope or cord, if you only know the skill

The taoist's skill is saving men,
He does this regardless of their aptitude for being saved
He never discards a useful thing simply because it needs a little work
And since every man thinks of himself as useful
The taoist needs only one attitude for all men

A skilled leader can create goodness in whoever comes to hand
And anyone, bad or good, can be his raw material
But fail to respect the material as much as the act
And nothing will be created, no matter how much effort goes into it

The point:
There is nothing more practical than faith

XXX

Whoever the tao aids in leading the people
Does not rely on weapons and violence
Armies consume, and destroy, and nothing more
A true leader uses them only at need
Lives with the destruction they create only as long it is needed
And so achieves his ends without using force

When armies are used for gaining profit, or pride, or glory,
Or to show the martial prowess of leader and nation
They serve only to fill heads and empty bellies
This is imbalanced, and must be held like that at great cost
This is not the way, sooner or later will collapse of itself

XXXII

The tao is ever nameless
Though it naturally seems small, no one would dare to try and capture it
If the leaders of the world could be one with it
All the creatures of the earth would bow down before them
And manna would spring from heaven and earth equally for all
Though no one insisted upon it

Failing that, of course, things must be named and put in some kind of order
As soon as you start to establish order, however
You must know when it's time to stop, so nothing can go wrong
The great tao flows into the world
As water flows into streams, then rivers, then oceans
There comes a point when it's self-defeating to try and control it

XXXVI

What you want to shrink; let expand
What you want to weaken; let grow strong
What you want to avoid; let approach
What you want to own; give away

Honestly done, this is subtle and effective
It is how the weak overcomes the strong, how the few lead the many
In the end, a leader leads because people consent to it
And force will never be as effective as engaging simple cooperation

XXXVII

The tao is ever nameless
If leaders could be one with it
The world would transform itself
Wherever it is restless and troubled
It could be soothed by simple anonymous actions
Which, being anonymous,
Would cause no disgrace, no insult, no worries
And all of heaven and earth would find its own proper balance

XXXIX

It is said that by attaining the one, long ago
Heaven rose and opened above us
As the earth took root and became solid
Gods walked the land in their glory
As the valleys poured forth all forms of life to honor them
And so leaders, attaining the one, would make their people prosperous and orderly

If, then, the way were ever truly lost
Heaven would close and fall, and the earth crumble
Gods would fade away and the valleys go barren
And leaders would fall amidst chaos and despair

What is noble must be rooted in the crude
What is high must be settled on the low
This is why leaders speak more often of the unfortunate than the fortunate
They would ground themselves among the lowly to reach high
Though they have cars, they would rather walk among the people
Though they could shine like jewels, they would rather seem solid as old stone

XLII

The tao gave birth to the universe
The universe opened heaven and earth
Heaven and earth added man to their number
And man named the ten thousand things

All living things wrap themselves in the female and wrap the male
And by so cycling achieve harmony and life
So all despise the same things, where the cycle fails
Being orphaned, abandoned, or starving
All leaders, then, claim as their sacred trust
To defend those with no other options
And so it goes - where there is great loss, there is great attention
Where there are great gains, all is secrecy and shadowed warfare.

Consider well, then, the following phrase:
'Who uses force will be forced in turn'
You have to start somewhere

XLVIII

To practice most things means to gain a little skill,every day
To practice the tao means to lose a little
Lose a little of this and a little of that until one has no skill left at anything
And then nothing will ever be left undone
If you want to lead, forget what leadership should be
If you can't forget the shoulds
You will always find someone to oppose you

LVII

It has been said of good leaders
'Peace is won by doing the expected, war by doing the unexpected'
But to lead by following the way you must let expectations go

Prohibitions only protect one by depriving another
Weapons only defend one by assaulting another
No amount of knowledge will ever substitute for wisdom
No amount of laws can ever replace honor

When you lead by following the way, remember
If you do nothing, people will transform themselves
If you remain quiet, people will have nothing to be confused about
Don't play the angles, and prosperity will be the norm
Don't impose your desires, and no one will conform or rebel

LXV

The ancient leaders who followed the way
Were not trying to enlighten the people
But instead to give them no cause to have knowledge
If you use knowledge to rule you will be accused of thievery
Of protecting one against the interests of another
And everyone will want to know the laws to protect themselves
Avoid this, and your actions will be closer to the way

If you keep this always in mind and practice it
You will lead a virtuous state
The effects of this are subtle and far reaching
And will always bring the people back

LXVI

A river makes a valley lush and fertile because it's content to settle to the lowest place
All things can draw what they need from it, without drowning in it
To be a leader, then, you must sink and be still
And let the people gather around you
You must follow the contours of people's hearts
And spill into their lives as little as possible
When you are quiet, the people will not see you as a weight on their shoulders
When you keep to your banks, the people will not be threatened by you
There will be no reason to build dykes or damns to limit your power
And the people will delight in your presence

LXVIII

Therefore a good leader, like a good soldier
Sees no need to flaunt her might
Never lets his passions sway him out of balance
Allows her opponents to overextend themselves
And in all things places himself below others

If you don't compete, then you're dealing with men correctly
And the tao, in all its antiquity, is on your side

LXXV

The more the leader fills his coffers, the more people go hungry
The more he rules on this or that, the more people are discontent

People who avidly seek to experience life take death lightly
Those who do not try to live life to its fullest are truly alive

LXXVIII

There is nothing softer and more yielding than water
Yet nothing hard and rigid can withstand it
Everyone knows this
That water can defeat the unyielding, that the weak can overcome the strong
Yet no one is willing to put it into practice

If you would be a leader, you must claim every disgrace of the state
Take all the offenses of the state as your own burden
How can you be honored if you run from dishonor?