67 天下皆謂我道大 似不肖

老子道德經第六十七章

天下皆謂我道大 似不肖
夫唯大 故似不肖
若肖 久矣其細也夫
我有三寶 持而保之
一曰慈 二曰儉
三曰不敢為天下先
慈故能勇 儉故能廣 　
不敢為天下先 故能成器長
今舍慈且勇 舍儉且廣
舍後且先 死矣
夫慈以戰則勝 以守則固 　
天將救之 以慈衛之

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SIXTY-SEVEN

Everyone under heaven says that my Tao is great and beyond compare.
Because it is great, it seems different.
It if were not different, it would have vanished long ago.

I have three treasures which I hold and keep.
The first is mercy; the second is economy;
The third is daring not to be ahead of others.
From mercy comes courage; from economy comes generosity;
From humility comes leadership.

Nowadays men shun mercy, but try to be brave;
They abandon economy, but try to be generous;
They do not believe in humility, but always try to be first.
This is certain death.

Mercy brings victory in battle and strength in defense.
It is the means by which heaven saves and guards.

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67 (asw)

everyone says my Tao is great,
and it's not like anything.
it's because it's great;
otherwise, it would be small.

i have three secret "weapons":
compassion, prudence, and humility.
compassion brings courage,
prudence brings generosity,
humility brings stability.

courage without compassion,
generosity without prudence,
prominent without humility,
it's the end.

for compassion leads to victory and strength,
because it's the way of nature.

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67. (ST)

Everywhere I go, people tell me,
"Tao is so powerful, so immense,
it's inconceivable!"

But it's only powerful
because it's inconceivable.
If we could wrap our minds around it,
Tao would be just another thing.

The three most important qualities in life
are compassion,
or showing kindness and mercy to others,
moderation,
or knowing what a thing is worth,
and modesty,
or knowing your place in the world.

Courage stems from showing
kindness and mercy to others.
Generosity starts with knowing
what a thing is worth.
True leadership begins with knowing
your place in the world.

But these days,
I see everyone trying to act courageous
without any trace of compassion.
They try to be generous
but they don't practice moderation
in their own lives.
They act like leaders,
but they have no sense of modesty.
No good can come of this.

If you want to get ahead,
show people compassion.
When other people attack you,
defend yourself with compassion.
It's the most powerful force in the universe.