Tao Te Ching Chapter 33

The Short of It:

 Conquer the external world by cultivating the internal self. 

33. Discriminating Virtue. 

	[Those] who [know] others [are] wise. 
		[Those] who [know themselves are] enlightened. 
	[Those] who [conquer] others [are] strong. 
		[Those] who [conquer themselves are] mighty. 
	[Those] who [know] when [they have] enough [are] rich. 
	[Those] who [walk] with energy [have] a purpose. 
	[Those] who [do] not miss [their] proper place [continue] long. 
	[Those] who [die], but [perish] not, [enjoy] longevity. 

Lau Tsze. Chalmers, John. The Speculations on Metaphysics, Polity, and Morality, of “the Old Philosopher,” Lau-tsze, Translated from the Chinese, with an Introduction by J. Chalmers. United Kingdom: Trübner, 1868.

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33. ‘Discriminating Between (Different) Attributes.’ 

33.1 [Those] who [know] other [people are] discerning; [Those] who [know themselves are] intelligent. [Those] who [overcome] others [are] strong; [Those] who [overcome themselves are] mighty. [Those] who [are] satisfied with [their] lot [are] rich; [Those] who [go] on acting with energy [have] a (firm) will. 

33.2 [Those] who [do] not fail in the requirements of [their] position, [continue] long; [Those] who [die] and yet [do] not perish, [have] longevity.

Lao-tze. Legge, James. The Sacred Books of China: The Texts of Tâoism. United Kingdom: Clarendon, 1891.

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33. The Virtue of Discrimination. 

33.1 One who knows others is clever, but one who knows [themselves are] enlightened. 

33.2 One who conquers others is powerful, but one who conquers [themselves are] mighty. 

33.3 One who knows contentment is rich and one who pushes with vigor has will. 

33.4 One who loses not [their] place endures. 

33.5 One who may die but will not perish, has life everlasting. 

Lao-tze. Suzuki, D.T. and Carus, Paul. The Canon of Reason and Virtue: Lao-tze’s Tao Teh King. United States: Open court publishing Company, 1913.

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The Long of It: 

The last line of Chapter 33 is mistranslated above. The character for death is now commonly translated as forgotten (Ames, Henricks, Lau).

This lays a better foundation for understanding the whole chapter. The Tao Te Ching is replete with dualism (see Chap 10). But Chapter 33 presents variations on just one: internal vs. external.

Our minds have the potential to far outweigh the external world.

As a result, controlling our neighbor is much harder (and less productive) than controlling ourselves.

However, too much inner focus will create a self-indulgent solipsism. Don’t forget, we are all going to die. The only cure to this internal absolute lies in the external world. Because someone who helps their neighbor will be remembered long after the person who only helped themselves. 

-TB

works cited

Lao-tzu. Henricks, Robert G. Lao-Tzu: Te-Tao Ching : a New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Mawangdui Texts. United States: Ballantine Books, 1992.

Lao-tzu. Lau, D.C. Tao Te Ching. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1982.

Laozi. Ames, Roger and Hall, David. 2003. Dao De Jing: Making This Life Significant : A Philosophical Translation. New York: Ballantine Books.

¹“mawangdui.” Wikipedia, Accessed Jan 8, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mawangdui.