When people make peace after violent hostility
Then it’s an armed peace
How can it be right?
One who is wise only takes a look at his own share in the conflict
And never blames his opponent
So one who is fair only faces his own part
While one who is not daring enough to look at oneself, blames the other
The road to self-knowledge knows no partiality
But it does benefit the sincere
Nothing in life is so soft and compliant as water
Nothing is stronger in breaking what is hard and strong
Nothing can exceed it in doing this
Weak overcomes strong
Soft overcomes hard
Nobody knows this
And no one practices it
Therefore the sage says:
One who is the least in the world, will be the greatest in life
One who carries the sorrow of the world, is the greatest among mankind
It sounds odd, but it’s true
The natural order is like stretching a bow
The low bow gets pushed up high
And the high tendon pulled downwards
Where there is too much, it takes away
Where there is not enough, it fills
Nature strives for harmony all the time
Decreases where there is too much
And increases where there is too little
But how opposite are the people in their behaviour
The poor get poorer while the rich tend to get richer
But one who is wise realizes that possession is burglary to community
Therefore he disposes himself of that which belongs to the community
So only one who is wise is detached
He does what others ask him to, but nothing for himself
Without taking credit for it
When a human being is born, it’s supple and weak
When it dies it’s stiff and strong
Everything that’s alive (take a look at grass and trees for example)
Is supple and flexible
And when they die they are shriveled and parched
Therefore hardness and inflexibility are companions of death
And suppleness and softness, companions of life
That’s why a rigid troublemaker will never win
And an inflexible tree is doomed to death
Inflexibility and power won’t get you very far
Suppleness and softness get you everywhere
People starve
Because the wealthy enrich themselves off other people’s backs
That’s why people starve
People cannot be kept under control
Because their leaders don’t know what they’re doing
That’s why people cannot be kept under control
People want to die
Because they don’t want to live this way
Therefore people want to die
Only the one who is not afraid to live,
Is not afraid of dying
When people no longer fear death
How can one threaten them with it?
But if people are afraid of death and other people threaten to kill them
When they infringe upon the law
Well, who is still going to break the law?
But there is only One who commands life and death
Since people started to decide about life and death themselves
They have actually taken a place on that One’s chair
Then they behave like sorcerer’s apprentices
Who assault the works of their master,
With disastrous consequences for themselves
