Chapter 45 · Great Perfection Seems Incomplete

Tao Te Ching (Legge, 1891) · chapter title added by Learn the Dao

Learn the Dao: a quiet practice for learning the thing that can’t be known.

The chapter’s first line

Who thinks his great achievements poor

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This chapter in plain modern English — David Kooi’s rendering ↓

Who thinks his great achievements poor Shall find his vigour long endure. Of greatest fulness, deemed a void, Exhaustion ne'er shall stem the tide. Do thou what's straight still crooked deem; Thy greatest art still stupid seem, And eloquence a stammering scream. Constant action overcomes cold; being still overcomes heat. Purity and stillness give the correct law to all under heaven.

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Purity and stillness give the correct — missed law to all under heaven

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Chapter 45, in a second rendering

Looks Unfinished, Never Wears Out

Dao De Kooi — an original rendering by David Kooi

The most finished thing looks unfinished - and it never wears out. The fullest thing looks empty - and it never runs dry. The straightest looks bent. The most skilled looks clumsy. The best talker sounds like they're stumbling. Move around and you warm up against the cold. Sit still and you cool off against the heat. Still and clear - that's what sets the whole thing right.

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