Chapter 1 — The Way that can be mapped is not the everlasting Way The Name that can be conferred is not the everlasting Name
Chapter 2 — When all under heaven judge the beautiful to be beautiful Ugliness is formed When all under heaven judge the good to be good Then evil is formed
Chapter 3 — Exalting no talent The people shall not contend Prizing no luxury The people shall not steal Seeing no desire Their hearts shall not trouble
Chapter 4 — The Way is hollow yet never full; surging yet never spilling Bottomless whirlpool, it gave birth to all things
Chapter 5 — Heaven and Earth are not benevolent They regard all things as straw dogs; with indifference
Chapter 6 — The Valley-Spirit never dies; She is the feminine, veiled deep in the depths Her veiled gate is the root from which Heaven and Earth spring It stretches on and on, like a soft strand of silk; spun wit...
Chapter 7 — Heaven spans on and on, Earth is long ancient Heaven and Earth reach so far, and last so long, For they are not born from or for their Self, granting them enduring life! The Sage knows this, and leave...
Chapter 8 — The highest good ebbs and flows like water Fluid; benefitting all things without contention Pooling; in places the masses find detestable And so it stirs, latent to the Way
Chapter 9 — It will spill all over If you keep on lavishing it
Chapter 10 — Your Earthly-self embraces the One; Will you never let go of it?
Chapter 11 — Thirty spokes unite in one wheel The cart's use is where it isn't
Chapter 12 — The five colours blind a man's eye The five tones deafen a man's ear The five flavours numb a man's tongue Coveted goods trip a man's feet And horse racing and trophy hunting madden a man's heart
Chapter 13 — Honour and humiliation are a shock! To prize the Self is to prize suffering!
Chapter 14 — Look but do not see; It is "invisible"
Chapter 15 — The great men of old Were inconspicuous, magnificent, mysterious, and penetrating; Incomprehensibly profound, deep beyond measure
Chapter 23 — Nature sparsely speaks So a gusting wind does not last all morn Nor pouring rain last all day What makes this so? Heaven and Earth
Chapter 24 — One who anxiously tip toes has no ground to stand on One who straddles the line never moves forward One who gazes into himself is found obscure One who believes in himself will not prove himself One w...
Chapter 25 — There was a thing, turbulent and perfect Before Heaven and Earth were first born
Chapter 26 — Solemnity serves as a light foundation Stillness serves as an irascible ruler
Chapter 27 — Moral moves leave no tracks to follow Kind speech has no flaw to fault Fair reprove keeps no tally Just gatekeeping blocks no passage, yet bars the unopenable Proper restraints need no rope, yet bind...
Chapter 28 — Befriend your male Preserve your female Serve as a valley for the world And your natural Character will fill you, never to depart Make a homecoming, return to infancy
Chapter 29 — To conquer the world and make it serve one's ends? I see it as an impossible task
Chapter 30 — A ruler who would ally with the Way Would not dominate the world by strength of arms Doing so would bring his just deserts
Chapter 31 — A decorated weapon Is an inauspicious tool A thing of some hate The Wayfarer is not at home with it
Chapter 32 — The Way's rule is nameless, like unworked wood Though it is small, the world cannot possibly subjugate it
Chapter 33 — One who knows others is intelligent One who knows himself is enlightened One who surpasses others holds power One who surpasses himself is strong
Chapter 34 — The boundless Way floods To the East and the West
Chapter 35 — Carrying in his breast the boundless image of the Way; The world is but a path to wend
Chapter 36 — Seek to draw it out And it ends stretched taut
Chapter 37 — The rule of the Way does nothing, and nothing is left undone