楚国 老子 Lao-Tzu  楚国   (B.C.600~B.C.470)
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 1
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 2
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 3
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 4
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 5
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 6
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 7
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 8
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 9
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 10
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 11
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 12
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 13
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 14
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 15
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 16
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 17
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 18
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 1
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 20
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 21
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 22
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 23
The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 24
Multiple poems at a time
Taoist Poetry

The Tao And Its Characteristics Chapter 22
二十二

   Lao-Tzu

The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight;
the empty, full;
the worn out, new.
He whose (desires) are few gets them;
he whose (desires) are many goes astray.


Therefore the sage holds in his embrace the one thing (of humility),
and manifests it to all the world.
He is free from self-display, and therefore he shines;
from self-assertion, and therefore he is distinguished;
from self-boasting, and therefore his merit is acknowledged;
from self-complacency, and therefore he acquires superiority.
It is because he is thus free from striving that therefore no one in the world is able to strive with him.


That saying of the ancients that 'the partial becomes complete' was not vainly spoken:--
all real completion is comprehended under it.

    Translator: James Legge
  

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