Translation: Tao Te King – Chapter 10. What is possible

Chapter 10. What is possible

By preserving the natural and spiritual powers and virtues it is possible to persist.

10 tonnes / s without pumps I hear, welcome to Helsinki. Photo by User:Ranveig CC-BY-SA 3.0 / GFDL
10 tonnes / s without pumps I hear. Welcome to Helsinki.  We got plenty of the good stuff. Photo by User:Ranveig CC-BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL. I choose to use under CC-BY-SA because it is strictly technically less complex to comply with.

By restraining lusts and letting nobility rule it is possible to stay a child¹.

By cleansing the eye of the soul of the unclean it is possible to stay unpolluted.

By guiding people with love it is possible to stay unknown.

By constantly moving the gates of heaven it is possible to stay without rust.

By being transparent on all sides it is possible to wander unnoticed.

To bring forth and preserve, to produce without owning, to act without hoping for a reward and to proliferate without being excessively spent – this is of the highest virtue.


  1. “Mr Ervast’s Bible-byte: “If you don’t come like children…” / “Jollette tule niinkuin lapset…” probably Matt 18 but not sure because I don’t have what was the Bible in 1925.

Own translation from 1925 Finnish translation by Pekka Ervast (ISBN 951-8995-01-X) with kind permission of Ruusu-Ristin Kirjallisuusseura ry.

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