Chapter 68 · The Virtue of Not Contending

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

He who in (Tao's) wars has skill

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

He who in (Tao's) wars has skill Assumes no martial port; He who fights with most good will To rage makes no resort. He who vanquishes yet still Keeps from his foes apart; He whose hests men most fulfil Yet humbly plies his art. Thus we say, 'He ne'er contends, And therein is his might.' Thus we say, 'Men's wills he bends, That they with him unite.' Thus we say, 'Like Heaven's his ends, No sage of old more bright.'

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Chapter 68, in a second rendering

The Strength of Not Competing

Dao De Kooi — an original rendering by David Kooi

The good soldier isn't a hothead. The good fighter doesn't fight angry. The one who really beats you doesn't get in the ring with you. The one who's good with people puts themselves underneath. Call it the strength of not competing. The knack for working with what other people bring. Lining yourself up with how things already run - which is about as old and as high as it gets.

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