Chapter 38

Highest virtue does not make a virtue of itself; therefore it has virtue.Lower virtue never lets go of virtue; therefore it has no virtue.Highest virtue acts without acting and has no purpose in acting;lower virtue acts and has a purpose in acting.Highest benevolence acts but has no purpose in acting;highest righteousness acts and has a purpose in acting.Highest ritual acts, and when no one responds, it bares its arms and pulls them into line.Thus, when the Way is lost, virtue follows; when virtue is lost, benevolence follows; when benevolence is lost, righteousness follows; when righteousness is lost, ritual follows.Ritual is the thinning of loyalty and trust, and the beginning of disorder.Foreknowledge is the blossom of the Way, and the beginning of folly.Therefore the great person dwells in what is thick, not in what is thin;dwells in the fruit, not in the blossom.Thus, that is cast off and this is taken.

The highest integrity makes no show of integrity; that is why it has integrity.Lesser integrity never lets integrity go; that is why it has none.The highest integrity acts without forcing, with no ulterior purpose.Lesser integrity acts, with a purpose behind the act.The highest humaneness acts, but without ulterior purpose.The highest rightness acts, and with a purpose in view.The highest ritual propriety acts; when no one responds, it rolls up its sleeves and drags people along.Thus, when the Way is lost, integrity takes its place; when integrity is lost, humaneness takes its place; when humaneness is lost, rightness takes its place; when rightness is lost, ritual takes its place.Ritual is loyalty and good faith worn thin—the beginning of disorder.Foreknowledge is the Way’s flower, and folly’s beginning.Therefore the mature person dwells in what is substantial, not what is worn thin;dwells in the fruit, not the flower.And so they leave that and choose this.

1. (Those who) possessed in highest degree the attributes (of the Tao) did not (seek) to show them, and therefore they possessed them (in fullest measure). (Those who) possessed in a lower degree those attributes (sought how) not to lose them, and therefore they did not possess them (in fullest measure).

2. (Those who) possessed in the highest degree those attributes did nothing (with a purpose), and had no need to do anything. (Those who) possessed them in a lower degree were (always) doing, and had need to be so doing.

3. (Those who) possessed the highest benevolence were (always seeking) to carry it out, and had no need to be doing so. (Those who) possessed the highest righteousness were (always seeking) to carry it out, and had need to be so doing.

4. (Those who) possessed the highest (sense of) propriety were (always seeking) to show it, and when men did not respond to it, they bared the arm and marched up to them.

5. Thus it was that when the Tao was lost, its attributes appeared; when its attributes were lost, benevolence appeared; when benevolence was lost, righteousness appeared; and when righteousness was lost, the proprieties appeared.

6. Now propriety is the attenuated form of leal-heartedness and good faith, and is also the commencement of disorder; swift apprehension is (only) a flower of the Tao, and is the beginning of stupidity.

7. Thus it is that the Great man abides by what is solid, and eschews what is flimsy; dwells with the fruit and not with the flower. It is thus that he puts away the one and makes choice of the other.