Laozi · Complete work
Chapter 45
Chapter 45 of 81. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Classical Chinese
大成若缺，其用不弊。大盈若沖，其用不窮。大直若屈，大巧若拙，大辯若訥。躁勝寒靜勝熱。清靜為天下正。
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the original source for fidelity, modern clarity, beauty, symbolism, and structure.
Great completion seems incomplete, yet its use never wears out.Great fullness seems empty, yet its use never runs dry.Great straightness seems bent, great skill seems clumsy, great eloquence seems halting.Movement overcomes cold; stillness overcomes heat.Clarity and stillness set all under heaven right.
OpenTao
Complete CC BY 4.0 translation made directly from the received Chinese text; source line structure preserved.
What is most complete may seem unfinished, yet it never wears out in use.What is most full may seem hollow, yet its use never runs dry.What is truly straight may seem bent; the master hand may seem clumsy; the finest eloquence may sound halting.Movement dispels the cold; stillness dispels the heat.Clarity and stillness are the true measure for all under heaven.
James Legge (1891)
Complete public-domain translation made directly from the original source text.
1.
Who thinks his great achievements poorShall find his vigour long endure.Of greatest fulness, deemed a void,Exhaustion ne'er shall stem the tide.Do thou what's straight still crooked deem;Thy greatest art still stupid seem,And eloquence a stammering scream.
2. Constant action overcomes cold; being still overcomes heat. Purity and stillness give the correct law to all under heaven.