三寶

Alchimie 171, 1991 Julio Le Parc 

道德經第六十七章

天下皆謂我道大，似不肖。

夫唯大，故似不肖。

若肖久矣。

其細也夫！

我有三寶，持而保之。

一曰慈，二曰儉，三曰不敢為天下先。

慈故能勇；儉故能廣；不敢為天下先，故能成器長。

今舍慈且勇；舍儉且廣；舍後且先；死矣！

夫慈以戰則勝，以守則固。

天將救之，以慈衛之。

Dao De Jing Chapter Sixty-seven ― Alan B. Taplow

 67 三寶 THE THREE TREASURES 

    While being recognized and proclaimed as great by the consensus of all people,

    Yet the Tao is indescribable.

    Being indescribable by common standards,

    It is great.

    Were it so describable,

    Its greatness would have long ago vanished.

    From it, three great treasures are possessed,

    To be embraced, guarded and kept secure.

    The first is Tzu,

    Characterized by gentleness, compassion, mercy and nurturing love.

    The second, Chien,

    By renunciation, frugality and economy, limit possession to no more than that which is truly needed.

    When encompassing the third,

    One rejects the need for worldly preeminence.

    Possessing the first,

    Is to possess courage.

    Being frugal,

    It is possible to be generous.

    No longer needing preeminence,

    One becomes a leader.

    Forsaking these,

    Endeavouring to be courageous without compassion,

    Endeavouring to possess without renunciation,

    Endeavouring to lead all without following behind,

    Is to surely court destruction.

    Through gentleness, compassion, mercy and nurturing love,

    The Sage wins in attack,

    Is impregnable in defence.

    Truly, heaven arms with love those whom it would not see destroyed.

Dao De Jing 67 ― James Legge : (Three precious things)

All the world says that, while my Dao is great, it yet appears to be inferior (to other systems of teaching).

Now it is just its greatness that makes it seem to be inferior. If it were like any other (system), for long would its smallness have been known!

But I have three precious things which I prize and hold fast. The first is gentleness; the second is economy, and the third is shrinking from taking precedence of others.

With that gentleness I can be bold; with that economy, I can be liberal; shrinking from taking precedence of others, I can become a vessel of the highest honour. Nowadays they give up gentleness and are all for being bold; economy, and are all for being liberal; the hindmost place, and seek only to be foremost; - (of all which the end is) death.