49.
The sage has no mind of his own
He takes as his own the mind of the people
He is good to the good
He is good to the bad
In doing so he gains in goodness
Those who are of good faith he has faith in
Those who are lacking in good faith he also has faith in
In doing so he gains in good faith
The sage in his attempt to distract the mind of the empire
seeks urgently to muddle it
The people all have something to occupy their eyes and ears
and the sage treats them all like children
50.
Between birth and death
Three of ten cautiously follow life
Three of ten boldly follow death
Three of ten overindulge from birth to death
One in ten knows how to live spontaneously
and accept life and death equally
He can walk abroad without fear of rhinoceros or tiger
He will not be wounded in battle.
There is no place for the rhinoceros to gore him;
There is no place for the tigers to claw him;
And no place for weapons to pierce him.
Why is this so?
Because he has no weakness to exploit.
51.
All things arise from Tao
They are nourished by the 'power' of Tao
They are formed by matter
They are shaped from environment
Thus the myriad things all respect Tao and honour its 'power'
Respect of Tao and honour of its 'power' are not demanded
but they are the nature of things
Therefore all things arise from Tao
By Tao's 'power' they are nourished
developed, cared for
sheltered, comforted,
grown and protected
Creating without claiming
Doing without taking credit
Guiding without interfering
This is why love of the Tao
is in the very nature of things
52.
The beginning of the universe
is the mother of all things.
Knowing the mother, you also know the sons.
Knowing the sons, hold all the tighter to the mother,
and to the end of your days suffer no harm
Curb your tongue and senses
and you are beyond trouble
Let them loose and busy yourself in worldly affairs,
and you are beyond help.
Good sight means seeing what is very small
Strength is knowing how to yield.
Use both your outer light and inner light,
and be preserved from all harm.
This is called following the constant.
