Tao Te Ching: Chapter 5

Feng English

Heaven and Earth are impartial;
They see the ten thousand things as
straw dogs.
The wise are impartial;
They see the people as straw dogs.
The space between heaven and Earth
is like a bellows.
The shape changes but not the form;
The more it moves, the more it yields.
Tao Te Ching, www.thebigview.com
More words count less.
Hold fast to the center.

Feng & English

Heaven and Earth are impartial;
They see the ten thousand things as
straw dogs.
The wise are impartial;
They see the people as straw dogs.
The space between heaven and Earth
is like a bellows.
The shape changes but not the form;
The more it moves, the more it yields.
Tao Te Ching, www.thebigview.com
More words count less.
Hold fast to the center.

Stephen Mitchell

The Tao doesn’t take sides;
it gives birth to both good and evil.
The Master doesn’t take sides;
she welcomes both saints and sinners.
The Tao is like a bellows:
it is empty yet infinitely capable.
The more you use it, the more it produces;
the more you talk of it, the less you understand.
Hold on to the center.

Tolbert McCarroll

Heaven and earth are not moved by offerings of straw-dogs.
The True Person is not moved by offerings of straw-dogs.
The space between heaven and earth is like a bellows.
It is empty and yet never exhausted.
The more it works the more comes out.
Many words lead to exhaustion.
Better to hold fast to your centre.