Oriente

Waley
In the days of old those who practiced Tao with success did not, By means of it, Enlighten the people, but on the contrary sought to make them ignorant. The more knowledge people have, the harder they are to rule. Those who seek to rule by giving knowledge Are like bandits preying on the land. Those who rule without giving knowledge Bring a stock of good fortune to the land. To have understood the difference between these who things Is to have a test and standard To be always able to (…)

Waley
“What stays still is easy to hold; Before there has been an omen it is easy to lay plans. What is tender is easily torn, What is minute is easy to scatter.” Deal with things in their state of not-yet-being, Put them in order before they have got into confusion. For “the tree big as a man’s embrace began as a tiny sprout, The tower nine storeys high began with a heap of earth, The journey of a thousand leagues began with what was under the feet”. He who acts, harms; he who grabs, lets (…)

Waley
It acts without action, does without doing, Finds flavour in what is flavourless, Can make the small great and the few many, “Requites injuries with good deeds, Deals with the hard while it is still easy, With the great while it is still small.” In the governance of empire everything difficult Must be dealt with while it is still easy, Everything great must be dealt with while it is still small. Therefore the Sage never has to deal with the great; And so achieves greatness. But again (…)

Waley
Tao in the Universe is like the south-west corner in the house. It is the treasure of the good man, The support of the bad. There is a traffic in speakers of fine words; Persons of grave demeanour are accepted as gifts; Even the bad let slip no opportunity to acquire them. Therefore on the day of an Emperor’s enthronement Or at the installation of the three officers of State Rather than send a team of four horses, preceded by a disc of jade, Better were it, as can be done without (…)

Waley
A large kingdom must be like the low ground towards which all streams flows down. It must be a point towards which all things under heaven converge. Its part must be that of the female in its dealings with all things under heaven.
The female by quiescence conquers the male; by quiescence gets underneath. If a large kingdom can in the same way succeed in getting underneath a small kingdom Then it will win the adherence of the small kingdom; And it is because small kingdoms are by (…)

Waley
Ruling a large kingdom is indeed like cooking small fish. They who by Tao ruled all that is under heaven Did not let an evil spirit within them display its powers. Nay, it was not only that the evil spirit did not display its powers; Neither was the Sage’s good spirit used to the hurt of other men. Nor was it only that his good spirit was not used to harm other men, The Sage himself was thus saved from harm. And so, each being saved from harm, Their “powers” could converge towards a (…)

Waley
You cannot rule men nor serve heaven unless you have laid up a store; This “laying up a store” means quickly absorbing, And “quickly absorbing” means doubling one’s garnered “power”. Double your garnered power and it acquires a strength that nothing can overcome. If there is nothing it cannot overcome, it know no bounds, And only what knows no bounds is huge enough to keep a whole kingdom in its grasp. But only he who having the kingdom goes to the Mother can keep it long. This is (…)

Waley
When the ruler looks repressed the people will be happy and satisfied; When the rule looks lively and self-assured the people will be carping and discontented. “It is upon bad fortune that good fortune leans, upon good fortune that bad fortune rests.” But though few know it, there is a bourn where there is neither right nor wrong; In a realm where every straight is doubled by a crooked, And every good by an ill, surely mankind has gone long enough astray? Therefore the Sage Squares (…)

Waley
“Kingdoms can only be governed if rules are kept; Battles can only be won if rules are broken.” But the adherence of all under heaven can only be won by letting-alone. How do I know that it is so? By this. The more prohibitions there are, the more ritual avoidances, The poorer the people will be. The more “sharp weapons” there are, The more benighted will the whole land grow. The more cunning craftsmen there are, The more pernicious contrivances will be invented. The more laws are (…)

Waley
Those who know do not speak; Those who speak do not know. Black the passages, Shut the doors, Let all sharpness be blunted, All tangles untied, All glare tempered. All dust smoothed. This is called the mysterious leveling. He who has achieved it cannot either be drawn into friendship or repelled, Cannot be benefited, cannot be harmed, Cannot either be raised or humbled, And for that very reason is highest of all creatures under heaven.
Wieger
A. Celui qui parle (beaucoup, (…)