Tao Te Ching

“Therefore the sage keeps to the deed that consists in taking no action and practices the teaching that uses no words.”

The sage is one who is passive. By being passive, he or she encourages order and virtue among the people. By taking no action, the sage is able to order the society. Effectively, by taking the least action, one can bring about the most positive change.

“Therefore in governing the people, the sage empties their minds but fills their bellies, weakens their wills but strengthens their bones.”

The role of the sage is merely to keep the people fed and keep their bodies strong. The sage should not fill their minds with ideas. Attempting to govern too much can only lead to downfall, and backlash from a ruler’s people.

“Let your wheels move only along old ruts.”

This is a metaphor for the Taoist way. The way involves treading lightly and not trying too hard, in the way a carriage should only travel only well-worn paths. The way does not involve working too hard or striving for something new.

“Much speech leads inevitably to silence.”

The way involves speaking only when necessary. Speaking will lead to silence, so it is better to conserve one’s energy and use speech only intermittently. The Tao Te Ching advises people to speak like wind gusts—only in short bursts.

“Therefore the sage puts his person last and it comes first.”

Only by being selfless can the sage, or ruler, encourage others to follow him or her. If the sage puts himself of herself first, others will put him or her last. To be followed, the sage must not think of him or herself.

“There may be gold and jade to fill a hall/But there is none who can keep them.”

Lao Tzu advises people to stay away from being too acquisitive. One will bring ruin upon oneself by amassing too many goods, as one will never be satisfied with what one has.

“In concentrating your breath can you become as supple/As a babe?”

Following the way involves returning to the innocent state of a newborn. As newborns are supple and pliant, so should people be who follow the way. Too much resistance or assertiveness will only bring harm.

“Hence the sage is/For the belly/Not for the eye.”

The sage is intended to help people get enough to eat. The sage should meet the bodily needs of the people, but he or she should not confuse people with too much ostentation or thought.

“It is because he is not full/That he can be worn and yet newly made.”

The person who follows the way does not eat or live to fullness. Because the person only takes what he or she needs, he or she is capable of constant renewal from the way. It is not food or worldly goods that give people what they need; instead, they are sustained by the way.

“The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.”

The best ruler is one who lives in the shadows. He or she is not domineering and hardly meddles in the people’s lives.

“Exhibit the unadorned and embrace the uncarved block.”

The uncarved block represents the empty and simple mind of the ideal person. By following the way, one is without thoughts and is restored to the state of a newborn. 

“Exterminate learning and there will no longer be worries.”

Knowledge only leads to worry. Instead, it is better to attend only to what is necessary and to empty one’s mind of useless knowledge. 

“As a thing the way is/Shadowy, indistinct./Indistinct and shadowy.”

The way cannot really be known. Instead, it is shadowy and its form cannot be discerned. Because the way is everything, it presents as nothing. This seeming contradiction is essential to understanding the way.

“He does not brag, and so has merit; He does not boast, and so endures.”

The ideal ruler is not arrogant or boastful. By being selfless, the leader lasts. Because he or she does not pretend to be everything, he or she can endure. Modesty allows for longevity. 

“To use words but rarely/Is to be natural./Hence a gusty wind cannot last all morning, and a sudden downpour cannot last all day.”

Just as a wind gust cannot sustain itself for very long, people cannot speak at length. Instead, people should speak just as long as is necessary. Overtly-talkative people put themselves at a disadvantage. 

“Know the male/But Keep to the female/And be a ravine to the empire.”

In following the way, people should be like the female force, which is submissive, as opposed to the male force, which is dominant. The ravine is an empty, lowly land form. It is this form that people should emulate.

“Where troops have encamped/There will brambles grow;/In the wake of a mighty army/Bad harvests follow without fail.”

The author is pacifist. He observes that warfare is often followed by bad harvests. Waging war, he believes, only hurts the aggressor. 

“Hence the man of large mind abides in the thick not in the thin, in the fruit not in the flower.”

The true follower of the way does not use flowery words and does not attend to the outer, showy manifestations of the way, such as the flower. Instead, the true follower of the way concentrates on its core, or the fruit. 

“That is why excessive meanness/Is sure to lead to great expense;/Too much store/Is sure to end in immense loss.”

One should not concentrate too much on one’s wealth, including the safeguarding of it. Such practices will only lead to loss. 

“Governing a large state is like boiling a small fish.”

This is an interesting metaphor. Perhaps it means that governing is difficult, much as boiling a small fish is. To rule effectively, the sage must be selfless and meddle in people’s lives as little as possible.

“The reason why the River and the Sea are able to be king of the hundred valleys is that they excel in taking the lower position.”

Water is symbolic of the force of the way. While water seems submissive and goes wherever it is forced, it is also ultimately powerful, in part because they are able to move over the land as needed/allowed.

“Therefore the sage, while clad in homespun, conceals on his person a priceless piece of jade.”

The sage appears lowly and dresses in simple, homemade clothes. However, the sage carries the valuable knowledge of the way. This knowledge is priceless.

“Grass and trees are pliant and fragile when living, but dried and shriveled when dead.”

What is vibrant and powerful is pliant. To be submissive is to be, like the grass, fertile and alive. The more resistance one places against a thing, or against a person, the more likely they are to perish.