Tao Te Ching Chapter 72
第72章
民不畏威，則大威至。無狎其所居，無厭其所生。夫唯不厭，是以不厭。是以聖人自知不自見，自愛不自貴；故去彼取此。
When the people do not fear what they ought to fear, that which is their great dread will come on them.
Let them not thoughtlessly indulge themselves in their ordinary life; let them not act as if weary of what that life depends on.
It is by avoiding such indulgence that such weariness does not arise.
Therefore the sage knows (these things) of himself, but does not parade (his knowledge); loves, but does not (appear to set a) value on, himself. And thus he puts the latter alternative away and makes choice of the former.
English: James Legge (1891), The Tâo Teh King, Sacred Books of the East vol. 39 (1891) — public domain. Chinese: Wang Bi recension (王弼本), commentary removed.
Character glossary
- 民míncitizens, subjects; a nation's people
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 畏wèifear, dread, awe, reverence
- 威wēimight, power, prestige; to dominate
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 大dàbig, great, vast, high, deep
- 至zhìreach, arrive; very, extremely
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 狎xiáto be familiar with; to disrespect
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 所suǒplace, location; "that which", a particl
- 居jūto live, to reside; to dwell; to sit
- 厭yànto dislike, to detest; to reject; to sat
- 生shēnglife, lifetime; birth; growth
- 夫fūman, husband; worker; those
- 唯wéionly; sole
- 是shìto be; indeed, right, yes; okay
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 聖shèngholy, sacred; sage, saint
- 人rénman, person; people
- 自zìself; private, personal; from
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
- 見jiànto see, to observe, to meet, to appear
- 愛àito love, to like, to be fond of; love, a
- 貴guìexpensive, costly; valuable, precious
- 故gùreason, cause; happening, instance
- 去qùto go away, to leave, to depart
- 彼bǐthat, those, the other
- 取qǔto take, to receive, to obtain; to selec
- 此cǐthis, these; in this case, then
Similar passages
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 12
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 38
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Zhuangzi The Evidence of Virtue Complete
- Zhuangzi The Identity of Contraries
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 22
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.