Laozi · Complete work
Chapter 24
Chapter 24 of 81. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Classical Chinese
企者不立；跨者不行；自見者不明；自是者不彰；自伐者無功；自矜者不長。其在道也，曰：餘食贅行。物或惡之，故有道者不處。
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the original source for fidelity, modern clarity, beauty, symbolism, and structure.
One who stands on tiptoe does not stand firm;One who strides cannot travel far;One who displays himself is not luminous;One who asserts himself does not shine forth;One who vaunts himself has no achievement;One who exalts himself does not endure.In the Way, these are called leftover food and excrescent acts.Things may well detest them; therefore one who has the Way does not dwell in them.
OpenTao
Complete CC BY 4.0 translation made directly from the received Chinese text; source line structure preserved.
Whoever rises on tiptoe cannot stand firm;whoever sets his feet too far apart cannot walk.Whoever puts himself on display does not shine;whoever insists he is right wins no recognition;whoever boasts of his achievements earns no credit;whoever exalts himself does not endure.Measured by the Way, these are scraps of food and growths on the body.All beings recoil from such things; therefore one who lives by the Way keeps clear of them.
James Legge (1891)
Complete public-domain translation made directly from the original source text.
He who stands on his tiptoes does not stand firm; he who stretches his legs does not walk (easily). (So), he who displays himself does not shine; he who asserts his own views is not distinguished; he who vaunts himself does not find his merit acknowledged; he who is self-conceited has no superiority allowed to him. Such conditions, viewed from the standpoint of the Tao, are like remnants of food, or a tumour on the body, which all dislike. Hence those who pursue (the course) of the Tao do not adopt and allow them.