Chapter 63
Tao Te Ching
(Dao De Jing)
Classic of the Way and Virtue
道德經
By Lao Tzu (Laozi)
Chapter
63
Tao Te Ching
(Dao De Jing) by Lao Tzu
A Consideration of Beginnings, Deal with the Great While it is Small, Do
Without Doing,
Practice Non-Practice, Taste Without Tasting, Return Love for Hate, Difficult and Easy,
恩始
"Do without "doing."
Get involved without manipulating.
Taste without tasting.
Make the great small,
The many, few.
Respond to anger with virtue.
Deal with difficulties while they are still easy.
Hand the great while it is still small.
The difficult problems in life
Always start off being simple.
Great affairs always start off being small.
Therefore the sage never deals with the great
And is able to actualize his greatness.
Now light words generate little belief,
Much ease turns into much difficulty.
Therefore the sage treats things as though they were difficult,
And hence, never has difficulty."
- Translated by
Charles Mueller, 2004, Chapter 63
"Practice no-action;
Attend to do-nothing;
Taste the flavorless,
Magnify the small,
Multiply the few,
Return love for hate.
Deal with the difficult while it is yet easy;
Deal with the great while it is yet small.
The difficult develops naturally from the easy,
And the great from the small;
So the sage, by dealing with the small,
Achieves the great."
- Translation by
Peter A. Merel, 1992, Chapter 63
Tao Te Ching
Translated by Arthur Waley
Tao - The Way
Translated by Lionel and and Herbert Giles
"It is the way of the Tao to act without thinking of acting;
To conduct affairs without feeling the trouble of them;
To taste without discerning any flavor;
To consider what is small as great, and a few as many;
And to recompense injury with kindness.
The master of it anticipates things that are difficult while they are easy,
And does things that would become great while they are small.
All difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a previous state in
which they were easy,
And all great things from one in which they were small.
Therefore the sage, while he never does what is great, is able on that account
to accomplish the greatest things.
He who lightly promises is sure to keep but little faith;
He who is continually thinking things easy is sure to find them difficult.
Therefore the sage sees difficulty even in what seems easy, and so never has any
difficulties."
- Translated by
James Legge, 1891,
Chapter 63
"Act without considering it to be acting.
Work without considering it to be working.
Taste without considering it to be tasting.
Big or small, many or few - respond to complaints with virtue.
Plan for difficult times when they're still easy to change.
What becomes enormous was once something minute.
All the difficulties in the world arise from what was originally easy to change.
Everything enormous in the world arises from what was originally minute.
It's natural for the wise person to end up not having to act on what's become
enormous, and therefore has the ability to achieve what's great.
You see, lightly making promises must show a lack of sincerity.
If many things are taken lightly, then many things will cause difficulty.
It's natural for a wise person to keep in touch with what might become
difficult.
Therefore, he ends up without difficulties."
- Translation by Nina Correa, 2008, Chapter 63
Tao Te Ching
Translated by Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching
Translated by John C. Wu
Lao-Tzu and the Tao-Te-Ching
Translated by Livia Kohn
Dao De Jing: The Book of the Way
Translated by Moss Roberts
"Accomplish do-nothing.
Attend to no-affairs.
Taste the flavorless.
Whether it is big or small, many or few,
Requite hatred with virtue.
Deal with the difficult while yet it is easy;
Deal wit the big while yet it is small.
The difficult (problems) of the world
Must be dealt with while they are yet easy;
The great (problems) of the world
Must be dealt with while they are yet small.
Therefore the Sage by never dealing with great (problems)
Accomplishes greatness.
He who lightly makes a promise
Will find it often hard to keep his faith.
He who makes light of many things
Will encounter many difficulties.
Hence even the Sage regards things as difficult,
And for that reason never meets with difficulties."
- Translated by
Lin Yutang, 1948, Chapter 63
"Do that which consists in taking no action;
Pursue that which is not meddlesome;
Savor that which has no flavor.
Make the small big and the few many;
Do good to him who has done you an injury.
Lay plans for the accomplishment of the difficult before it becomes
difficult;
Make something big by starting with it when small.
Difficult things in the world must needs have their beginnings in the easy;
Big things must needs have their beginnings in the small.
Therefore it is because the sage never attempts to be great that he succeeds
in becoming great.
One who makes promises rashly rarely keeps good faith;
One who is in the habit of considering things easy meets with frequent
difficulties.
Therefore even the sage treats some things as difficult.
That is why in the end no difficulties can get the better of him."
- Translated by
D. C. Lau, Chapter 63
"Do things non-coercively (wuwei),
Be non-interfering in going about your business (wushi),
And savor the flavor of the unadulterated in what you eat.Treat the small as
great and the few as many.
Requite enmity with character (de).
Take account of the difficult while it is still easy,
And deal with the large while it is still tiny.
The most difficult things in the world originate with the easy,
And the largest issues originate with the tiny.
Thus, it is because the sages never try to do great things
That they are indeed able to be great.
One who makes promises lightly is sure to have little credibility;
One who finds everything easy is certain to have lots of difficulties.
Thus, it is because even the sages pay careful attention to such things
That they are always free of difficulties."
- Translated by
Roger T. Ames and David L Hall, 2003, Chapter 63
"Assert non-assertion.
Practice non-practice.
Taste the tasteless.
Make great the small.
Make much the little.
Requite hatred with virtue.
Contemplate a difficulty when it is easy.
Manage a great thing when it is small.
The world's most difficult undertakings necessarily originate while easy,
And the world's greatest undertakings necessarily originate while small.
Therefore the holy man to the end does not venture to play the great, and
thus he can accomplish his greatness.
Rash promises surely lack faith, and many easy things surely involve in many
difficulties.
Therefore, the holy man regards everything as difficult, and thus to the end
encounters no difficulties."
- Translated by
D. T. Suzuki and Paul Carus, 1913,
Chapter 63
Tao Te Ching
Annotated translation by Victor Mair
"Act without doing;
work without effort.
Think of the small as large
and the few as many.
Confront the difficult
while it is still easy;
accomplish the great task
by a series of small acts.
The Master never reaches for the great;
thus she achieves greatness.
When she runs into a difficulty,
she stops and gives herself to it.
She doesn't cling to her own comfort;
thus problems are no problem for her."
- Translated by
Stephen Mitchell, 2006, Chapter 63
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 63, Green Paths Blog Post, 8/6/2009
Chapter 63 Read by Mike Garofalo (WMA,
3:41 Minutes, 886 Kb, 2006) This reading uses the translations by Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall,
and by Stephen Mitchell.
Notes on Chapter 63
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Chapter and Thematic Index to the Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching
Commentary, Interpretations, Research Tools, Resources
Chapter 63
Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition
By Jonathan Star. Translation, commentary and research tools. New York, Jeremy P. Tarcher, Penguin, 2001. Concordance, tables, appendices, 349 pages. A
new rendition of the Tao Te Ching is provided, then a verbatim translation with
extensive notes. Detailed tables for each verse provide line number, all
the Chinese characters, Wade-Giles romanization, and a list of meanings for
each character. An excellent reference tool!
Yellow Bridge
Dao De Jing Comparison Table, Chapter 63 Provides side by side comparisons of translations of the Tao Te
Ching by James Legge,
D. T. Suzuki, and Dwight Goddard. Chinese characters for each paragraph in
the Chapter are on the left; place your cursor over the Chinese characters to
see the Pinyin romanization of the Chinese character and a list of meanings.
Center Tao.
Includes a commentary on each Chapter.
The Complete Works of Lao Tzu: Tao Teh Ching & Hua Hu Ching
Translation and elucidation by Hua Ching Ni.
Tao Te Ching Commentaries - Google Search
Translators'
Index, Tao Te Ching Translators Sorted Alphabetically by Translator, Links
to Books and Online Versions
Tao Te Ching: A
Bibliography and Index of Translations on the Web
Chapter 63 in the
Rambling
Taoist Commentaries by Trey Smith. The
Rambling Taoists are Trey Smith and Scott Bradley.
The Philosophy of the Daodejing
By Hans-Georg Moeller. Columbia University Press, 2006, 176 pages.
Valley Spirit, Gu Shen,
Concept, Chapter 6
Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse
The largest collection of very nicely formatted complete versions of the Tao
Te Ching. The
collection includes 209 complete versions in 27 languages,
plus 28 Chinese versions. There are 112 English language
versions of the
Tao Te Ching available at this website. A variety of search methods and comparison methods are provided, as well a a detailed
index.
Lao-tzu's Taoteching
Translated by Red Pine (Bill Porter). Includes many brief selected
commentaries for each Chapter draw from commentaries in the past
2,000 years. Provides a verbatim translation and shows the text in Chinese
characters. San Francisco, Mercury House, 1996, Second Edition, 184 pages.
An invaluable resource for commentaries.
Reading Lao Tzu: A Companion to the Tao Te Ching with a New Translation
By Ha Poong Kim. Xlibris, 2003, 198 pages.
Chapter 63, Line by Line
Comparisons of 27 Translations of the Tao Te Ching Compiled by the St. Xenophon
Wayist Seminary
Ripening Peaches: Taoist
Studies and Practices
Dao De Jing: A Philosophical Translation
By Roger T. Ames and David T. Hall. Ballantine, 2003, 256 pages.
Thematic Index to the
81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching
Lao Tzu: Te-Tao Ching - A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui
Texts (Classics of Ancient China)
Translated with and introduction and detailed exposition and commentary by
Professor Robert G. Henricks. New York, Ballantine Books, 1992.
Includes Chinese characters for each chapter. Bibliography, detailed
notes, 282 pages.
Revealing the Tao Te Ching: In Depth Commentaries on an Ancient Classic.
By Hu Huezhi. Edited by Jesse Lee Parker. Seven Star Communications,
2006. 240 pages.
Cloud Hands Blog
Mike Garofalo writes about Taoism, Gardening, Taijiquan, Walking, Mysticism,
Qigong, and the Eight Ways.
Tao Te
Ching: A New Translation and Commentary. By Ellen Chen. Paragon
House, 1998. 274 pages.
The Tao
and Method: A Reasoned Approach to the Tao Te Ching. By Michael
Lafargue. New York, SUNY Press, 1994. 660 pages.
The
Whole Heart of Tao: The Complete Teachings from the Oral Tradition of Lao-Tzu.
By John Bright-Fey. Crane Hill Publishers, 2006. 376 pages.
Gushen Grove Notebooks for the Tao Te Ching
Research by
Michael P. Garofalo
Green
Way Research, Valley Spirit
Grove, Gushen Grove Notebooks, Red Bluff, California
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Tao Te Ching
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Introduction
Index to Translators of the Tao Te Ching
The Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) circa 500
BCE
Translated by Brian Walker
By Eva Wong
Translated by Eva Wong 
Translated by Philip Ivahoe
By James Miller
Translated by Stephen Bokencamp
By Alexander and Annellen Simpkins
Translated by Thomas Cleary
By Livia Kohn
By Hu Xuzehi
By Wes Burgess
By Arthur Waley
By Derek Lin.
By Ming-Dao Deng.
By Benjamin Hoff.
By Ming-Dao Deng.
Translated by Thomas Cleary.