The Nature of the Essential, Hidden Value, Good Home Live, Simple Living,
Propounding the Essential,
Sensible Man, Not Arguing, Honest Truth, The Manifestation of Simplicity, 顯質
"They may have carts and boats
but there will be no need to ride in them;
they may have armor and weapons
but they will never need to display them.
Let the people go back to tying knots for record-keeping;
let their food be savory;
their clothing beautiful;
their customs pleasurable;
their homes secure.
Though they may gaze across at a neighbor's holdings
and hear the sounds of it's dogs and chickens,
they will not bother them, coming and going.
They will die of happy old age."
- Translated by
Jerry C. Welch,
Chapter 81
"Real words are not vain,
Vain words not real;
And since those who argue prove nothing
A sensible man does not argue.
A sensible man is wiser than he knows,
While a fool knows more than is wise.
Therefore a sensible man does not devise resources:
The greater his use to others
The greater their use to him,
The more he yields to others
The more they yield to him.
The way of life cleaves without cutting:
Which, without need to say,
Should be man's way."
- Translated by
Witter Bynner,
Chapter 81
Translation and elucidation by Hua Ching Ni
Translated by Brian Walker
Translated by Arthur Waley
Translated by Lionel and and Herbert Giles
By Eva Wong
"Truthful (hsin) words (yen) are not beautiful,
Beautiful (mei) words are not truthful.
The good (shan) does not distinguish,
One who distinguishes (pien) is not good.
One who knows (chih) does not accumulate knowledge,
One who accumulates knowledge (po) does not know.
The sage does not hoard.
Having worked (wei) for his fellow beings,
The more he possesses.
Having donated himself to his fellow beings,
The more abundant he becomes.
The way of heaven,
It benefits (li), but does not harm.
The way of the sage,
He works (wei), but does not contend."
- Translated by
Ellen M. Chen,
Chapter 81
By Alexander Simkins. 
By Derek Lin.
By Ming-Dao Deng.
By Benjamin Hoff.
By Ming-Dao Deng.
Translated by Thomas Cleary.
"True words are not beautiful;
Beautiful words are not true.
Those who are good do not argue;
Those who argue are not good.
Those who are wise are not learned;
Those who are learned are not wise.
The Sage does not store up possessions.
The more he helps others, the more he fulfils himself.
The more he gives to others, the more he has for himself.
The Way of Heaven is to benefit others whilst harming no one.
The Way of the Sage is to accomplish without striving."
- Translated by
Keith Seddon,
Chapter 81
"True words are not fancy.
Fancy words are not true.
The good do not debate.
Debaters are not good.
The one who really knows is not broadly learned,
The extensively learned do not really know.
The sage does not hoard,
She gives people her surplus.
Giving her surplus to others she is enriched.
The way of Heaven is to help and not harm."
- Translated by
Charles Muller,
Chapter 81
By Hu Xuzehi
Annotated translation by Victor Mair 
By Ha Poong Kim
By Hans-Georg Moeller 
By Roger T. Ames and David T. Hall
By Wes Burgess
By Arthur Waley
"No one likes the honest truth,
And all fine talk falls short of it.
Real words are never used to seduce you,
And those that do are no good.
The one who really knows, knows without books
- the so-called learned know nothing.
The sage holds nothing of himself back-
He uses all he has for you, and that is his reward.
He gives all he is
and that is why he's rich.
And the Tao of Heaven
feeds everything, and harms nothing
And the sage's Tao
completes it,
without doing anything."
- Translated by
Kwok, Palmer and
Ramsey, Chapter 81
"As honest words may not sound fine,
Fine words may not be honest ones;
A good man does not argue, and
An arguer may not be good!
The knowers are not learned men
And learned men may never know.
The Wise Man does not hoard his things;
Hard-pressed, from serving other men,
He has enough and some to spare;
But having given all he had,
He then is very rich indeed.
God's Way is gain that works no harm;
The Wise Man's way, to do his work
Without contending for a crown."
- Translated by
Raymond Blakney,
Chapter 81
Cloud Hands Blog, December 25, 2011, Dao De Jing, Chapter 81
Dao
Te Ching by Lao Tsu, Posts to the Cloud Hands Blog
Tao Te Ching
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching
Translated by Livia Kohn
Dao De Jing: The Book of the Way
"Words to trust and not refine.
Words refined are not to trust.
Good men are not gifted speakers.
Gifted speakers are not good.
Experts are not widely learned;
The widely learned not expert.
Wise rulers for themselves keep naught,
Yet gain by having done for all,
Have more for having freely shared;
Do good not harm is heaven’s Way;
The wise act for and not against."
- Translated by
Moss Roberts,
Chapter 81
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
"Truth need not be eloquent
And eloquence may not be true
There is no need to argue
When truth is shining through
Those who see may not be learned
The learned may not see
To see you merely need to look
In pure simplicity
The seer doesn't have to hoard
And does not fear to lose
The more you give, the more you have
So why should you refuse?
Why not give it all away?
For emptiness brings benefit
And as the seers always say
The more you give, the more you get."
- Translated by
Jim Clatfelter,
Chapter 81
Walking the Way: 81 Zen Encounters with the Tao Te Ching
The Tao of Zen
Tao Te Ching: Zen Teachings on the Taoist Classic
Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face: Scripture, Ritual, and
Iconographic Exchange in Medieval China
"He who knows, speaks not.
He who speaks, knows not.
He who is sincere, does not embellish.
He who embellishes, is not sincere.
He who is good, disputes not.
He who disputes, is not good.
He who knows, does not game.
He who games, knows not."
- Translated by
Jan Duyvendak,
Chapter 81
Previous Chapter of the Tao Te Ching #80
Chapter and Thematic Index to the Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching
Commentary, Interpretations, Research Tools, Resources
Chapter 81
Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition
Yellow Bridge
Dao De Jing Comparison Table, Chapter 81 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
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 81 in the
Rambling
Taoist Commentaries by Trey Smith. The
Rambling Taoists are Trey Smith and Scott Bradley.
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.
Offline on 5/12/2013.
Lao-tzu's Taoteching
Reading Lao Tzu: A Companion to the Tao Te Ching with a New Translation
Ripening Peaches: Taoist
Studies and Practices
Dao De Jing: A Philosophical Translation
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)
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
Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Grove, Gushen Grove Notebooks, Red Bluff, California
This webpage was last updated on May 12, 2013.
This webpage was first distributed online on February 2, 2011
Brief Biography of Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.
Valley Spirit Grove, Red Bluff, California
Weekend Qigong Workshops with Mike Garofalo in Beautiful Red Bluff, California
Ripening Peaches: Daoist Studies and Practices
Taoist Perspectives: My Reading List
One Old Druid's Final Journey: Notebooks of the Librarian of Gushen Grove
Index to Translators of the Tao Te Ching
The Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) circa 500 BCE