Chapter 67 Dyer
All the world talks about my Dao with such familiarity.
What folly!
The Dao is not something found at the marketplace or passed on from father to son.
It is not something gained by knowing or lost by forgetting.
If the Dao were like this it would have been lost and forgotten long ago.
I have three treasures which I hold fast and watch closely.
The first is mercy.
The second is frugality.
The third is humility.
From mercy comes courage.
From frugality comes generosity.
From humility comes leadership.
Now if one were bold but had no mercy, if one were broad but were not frugal, if one went ahead without humility, one would die.
Love vanquishes all attackers.
It is impregnable in defense.
When Heaven wants to protect someone does it send an army?
No it protects him with love.
Chapter 67 Henricks
1. The whole world says, I'm Great;
2. Great, yet unlike [everyone else],
3. But it's precisely because I'm unlike [everyone else], that I'm therefore able to be Great.
4. Were I like [everyone else], for a long time now I'd have seemed insignificant and small.
5. I constantly have three treasures;
6. Hold on to them and treasure them.
7. The first is compassion;
8. The second is frugality;
9. And the third is not presuming to be at the forefront in the world.
10. Now, it's because I'm compassionate that I therefore can be courageous;
11. And it's because I'm frugal that I therefore can be magnamimous;
12. And it's because I don't presume to be at the forefront in the world that I therefore can be the head of those with complete talent.
13. Now, if you abandon this compassion and yet try to be courageous,
14. And if you abandon this frugality and yet try to be magnanimous,
15. And if you abandon this staying behind and yet go to the fore,
16. Then you will die.
17. If with compassion you attack, then you'll win;
18. If you defend, then you'll stand firm.
19. When Heaven's about to establish him,
20. It's as though he surrounds him with the protective wall of compassion.
Chapter 67 Lau
The whole world says that my way is vast and resembles nothing.
It is because it is vast that it resembles nothing.
If it resembled anything, it would, long before now, have become small.
I have three treasures
Which I hold and cherish.
The first is known as compassion,
The second is known as frugality,
The third is known as not daring to take the lead in the empire;
Being compassionate one could afford to be courageous,
Being frugal one could afford to extend one's territory,
Not daring to take the lead in the empire one could afford to be lord over the vessels.
Now, to forsake compassion for courage, to forsake frugality for expansion, to forsake the rear for the lead, is sure to end in death.
Through compassion, one will triumph in attack and be impregnable in defence.
What heaven succours it protects with the gift of compassion.
Chapter 67 Wu
All the world says that my Tao is great, but seems
queer, like nothing on earth. But it is just because
my Tao is great that it is like nothing on earth! If it were
like anything on earth, how small it would have been
from the very beginning!
I have Three Treasures, which I hold fast and watch
over closely. The first is Mercy. The second is Frugality.
The third is Not Daring to Be First in the World. Because
I am merciful, therefore I can be brave. Because I am
frugal, therefore I can be generous. Because I dare not
be first, therefore I can be the chief of all vessels.
If a man wants to be brave without first being
merciful, generous without first being frugal, a leader
without first wishing to follow, he is only courting
death!
Mercy alone can help you to win a war. Mercy alone
can help you to defend your state. For Heaven will
come to the rescue of the merciful, and protect him
with its Mercy.