Tao Te Ching: Chapter 68

Updated November 13, 2019 | Infoplease Staff
Daodejing (Tao Te Ching) by Laozi, trans. James Legge
Chapter 67
Chapter 69

Chapter 68

1

He who in (Tao's) wars has skill
Assumes no martial port;
He who fights with most good will
To rage makes no resort.
He who vanquishes yet still
Keeps from his foes apart;
He whose hests men most fulfil
Yet humbly plies his art.

Thus we say, 'He ne'er contends,
And therein is his might.'
Thus we say, 'Men's wills he bends,
That they with him unite.'
Thus we say, 'Like Heaven's his ends,
No sage of old more bright.'

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