Sacred Text · The Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching, chapter 63
Chapter 63 of 81
“(It is the way of the Tao) to act without (thinking of) acting; to conduct affairs without (feeling the) trouble of them; to taste without discerning any flavour; to consider what is small as great, and a few as many; and to recompense injury with kindness. (The master of it) anticipates things that are difficult while they are easy, and does things that would become great while they are small. All difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a previous state in which they were easy, and all great things from one in which they were small. Therefore the sage, while he never does what is great, is able on that account to accomplish the greatest things. He who lightly promises is sure to keep but little faith; he who is continually thinking things easy is sure to find them difficult. Therefore the sage sees difficulty even in what seems easy, and so never has any difficulties.”
Tao Te Ching 63 · 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
It is the way of the Tao to recompense injury with kindness. Jesus taught the same and lived it: love your enemies, bless those who curse you (Luke 6:27-28), and he forgave from the cross. Where the sage returns kindness for injury, the Gospel shows God doing so first, for us.
Explore: Repay injury with kindnessWhy Jesus?Read the Gospel