Oriente

Waley
The people starve because those above them eat too much tax-grain. That is the only reason why they starve.
The people are difficult to keep in order because those above them interfere. That is the only reason why they are so difficult to keep in order. The people attach no importance to death, Because those above them are too grossly absorbed in the pursuit of life. That is why they attach no importance to death. And indeed, in that their hearts are so little set on life They are (…)

Waley
The people are not frightened of death. What then is the use of trying to intimidate them with the death-penalty?
And even supposing people were generally frightened of death And did not regard it as an everyday thing, Which of us would dare to seize them and slay them?
There is the Lord of Slaughter always ready for this task, And to do it in his stead is like thrusting oneself into the master-carpenter’s place And doing his chipping for him. Now “he who tries to do the (…)

Waley
He whose braveness lies in daring, slays. He whose braveness lies in not daring , gives life. Of these two, either may be profitable or unprofitable. But “Heaven hates what it hates; None can know the reason why”. Wherefore the Sage, too, disallows it. For it is the way of Heaven not to strive but none the less to conquer, Not to speak, but none the less to get an answer, Not to beckon; yet things come to it of themselves. Heaven is like one who says little, yet none the less has (…)

Waley
Never mind if the people are not intimidated by your authority. A Mightier Authority will deal with them in the end. Do not narrow their dwelling or harass their lives; And for the very reason that you do not harass them, They will cease to turn from you. Therefore the Sage knows himself but does not show himself. Knows his own value, but does not put himself on high. Truly, he rejects that but takes this”.
Wieger
A. Ceux là se perdent, qui ne craignent pas, alors qu’ils (…)

Waley
“To know when one does not know is best. To think one knows when one does not know is a dire disease. Only he who recognizes this disease as a disease Can cure himself of the disease. The Sage’s way of curing disease Also consists in making people recognize their diseases as diseases And thus ceasing to be diseased.
Wieger
A. Tout savoir et croire qu’on ne sait rien, voilà le vrai savoir (la science supérieure). Ne rien savoir et croire qu’on sait tout, voilà le mal commun des (…)

Waley
My words are very easy to understand And very easy to put into practice. Yet no one under heaven understands them; No one puts them into practice. But my words have an ancestry, my deeds have a lord; And it is precisely because men do not understand this That they are unable to understand me. Few then understand me, but it is upon this very fact my value depends. It is indeed in this sense that “the Sage wears hair-cloth on top, But carries jade underneath his dress.”
Wieger
A. (…)

Waley
The strategists have the sayings: “When you doubt your ability to meet the enemy’s attack, Take the offensive yourself” And “If you doubt your ability to advance an inch, then retreat a foot”. This latter is what we call to march without moving, To roll the sleeve, but present no bare arm, The hand that seems to hold, yet had no weapon in it, A host that can confront, yet presents no battle-front. Now the greatest of all calamities is to attack and find no enemy. I can have no enemy (…)

Waley
The best charioteers do not rush ahead; The best fighters do not make displays of wrath. The greatest conqueror wins without joining issue; The best user of men acts as though he were their inferior. This is called the power that comes of not contending, Is called the capacity to use men, The secret of being mated to heaven, to what was of old.
Wieger
A. Que celui qui commande, ne pense pas que c’est la tactique, la valeur, l’effort, qui donnent la victoire.
B. C’est en se (…)

Waley
Every one under heaven says that our Way is greatly like folly. But it is just because it is great, that it seems like folly. As for things that do not seem like folly — well, There can be no question about their smallness! Here are my three treasures. Guard and keep them! The first is pity; The second, frugality; The third, refusal to be “foremost of all things under heaven.” For only he that pities is truly able to be brave; Only he that is frugal is able to be profuse. Only he (…)

Waley
How did the great rivers and seas get their kingship Over the hundred lesser streams? Through the merit of being lower than they; That was how they got their kingship. Therefore the Sage In order to be above the people Must speak as though he were lower than the people. In order to guide them He must put himself behind them. Only thus can the Sage be on top and the people not be crushed by his weight. Only thus can he guide, and the people not be led into harm Indeed in this way (…)