Laozi · Complete work
Chapter 81
Chapter 81 of 81. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Classical Chinese
信言不美，美言不信。善者不辯，辯者不善。知者不博，博者不知。聖人不積，既以為人己愈有，既以與人己愈多。天之道，利而不害；聖人之道，為而不爭。
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the original source for fidelity, modern clarity, beauty, symbolism, and structure.
Trustworthy words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not trustworthy.Those who are good do not argue; those who argue are not good.Those who know are not broadly learned; those broadly learned do not know.The sage does not hoard: the more he does for others, the more he has; the more he gives to others, the more abundant he becomes.The Way of Heaven benefits and does not harm;The way of the sage acts and does not contend.
OpenTao
Complete CC BY 4.0 translation made directly from the received Chinese text; source line structure preserved.
Sincere words are not polished; polished words are not sincere.The good do not dispute; those who dispute are not good.Those who know are not widely learned; those who are widely learned do not know.The sage hoards nothing. Having spent everything for others, the sage has more; having given everything to others, the sage has more still.The way of heaven benefits without harming;the sage’s way is to act, not contend.
James Legge (1891)
Complete public-domain translation made directly from the original source text.
1. Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere. Those who are skilled (in the Tao) do not dispute (about it); the disputatious are not skilled in it. Those who know (the Tao) are not extensively learned; the extensively learned do not know it.
2. The sage does not accumulate (for himself). The more that he expends for others, the more does he possess of his own; the more that he gives to others, the more does he have himself.
3. With all the sharpness of the Way of Heaven, it injures not; with all the doing in the way of the sage he does not strive.