Sacred Text · The Tao Te Ching

Tao Te Ching, chapter 22

Chapter 22 of 81

“The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight; the empty, full; the worn out, new. He whose (desires) are few gets them; he whose (desires) are many goes astray. Therefore the sage holds in his embrace the one thing (of humility), and manifests it to all the world. He is free from self-display, and therefore he shines; from self-assertion, and therefore he is distinguished; from self-boasting, and therefore his merit is acknowledged; from self-complacency, and therefore he acquires superiority. It is because he is thus free from striving that therefore no one in the world is able to strive with him. That saying of the ancients that 'the partial becomes complete' was not vainly spoken:--all real completion is comprehended under it.”
Tao Te Ching 22 · Legge

Translation: James Legge (1891), The Tâo Teh King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XXXIX, public domain, via Project Gutenberg (ebook 216). Reproduced in full and in context; chapter 1 and the chapter count (81 chapters) validated against the source before publishing. Legge’s round brackets are his own clarifying insertions.

Christian comparison

How this connects to Jesus

He who humbles himself shall be preserved, and the crooked shall be made straight. Jesus said almost the same: whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 14:11); and the prophet Isaiah foretold a day when the crooked shall be made straight by God (Isaiah 40:4). A shared trust that the low place is the safe place.

Explore: He who humbles himselfWhy Jesus?Read the Gospel

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