Verse 9: Retreat after work is finished.

持而盈之不如其己；
Filling the full vessel spills it;
揣而銳之不可長保；
Sharpening a sharp blade blunts it;
金玉滿堂莫之能守；
Amassing a hall full of treasure males it impossible to guard;
富貴而驕，自遺其咎。
The pride of wealth brings loss to oneself.
功遂身退，天之道。
Retreating after the work is finished, that is the way of the heaven.

Comments,
The overall point of this passage is to emphasis retreat after advance, yin after yang, thus returning things in its cycle. The grammar structure has been revised a little to reflect some common sense.

Verse 8: Water and the highest good

上善若水。
The highest good is similar to water
水善利萬物而不爭，
Water benefits the 10,000 things without contention,
處眾人之所惡，故幾於道。
Stays in places that are undesirable to the masses, and therefore apporaches the Tao.
居善地，
For buildings, favor the earth
心善淵
For hearts, favor wide and deep compassion
與善仁，
For relationships, favor gentility and benevolence
言善信，
For words, favor credibility and sincerity
正善治，
For restraint, favor development of joy.
事善能，
For work, favor capability
動善時。
For action, favor timing.
夫唯不爭，故無尤。
The one who does not contend is without blame.

Comments
"For restraint, favor development of joy": 正 actually breaks down into "stopping at the line", while 治 breaks down into "using water to bring joy". The metaphor here seems to be reducing a society's expansive and chaotic impulses (i.e. war) by careful management (a small action, like water irrigation, multiplying into big results)

"Blame"is taken from 尤, which is supposed to have a neutral meaning as "outside of the mean". The negative meaning is implied here due to the paradox structure.

Verse 7: How to be a sage

天長地久。
Heaven and earth are enduring.
天地所以能長且久者，
The reason why heaven and earth are so enduring is
以其不自生，故能長生。
because they do not live for themselves, and yet they live long.
是以聖人後其身而身先，
Hence the sage advances by keeping behind,
外其身而身存。
Survives by keeping aside .
非以其無私邪！
Is it not that the sage has no selfish evils!
故能成其私。
That allows his personal goals to succeed.

Comments
Systemic sustenance and selflessness. Another fine example of the Tao being very embedded in nature. Here's a Buddhist saying from a Bruce Lee movie: "The enemy is but an illusion, one's true enemy is himself". Selflessness is the best way to be selfish.

Verse 6: Mysterious Female

谷神不死是謂玄牝。
The valley spirit does not die; it is the mysterious female.
玄牝之門是謂天地根。
The door of the mysterious female is the root of heaven and earth.
綿綿若存，用之不勤。
It seems to be preserved even as time goes by,
making use of a lack of strength.

Comments
There is a clear association made between the Tao and feminity, using images like valley and referencing subtle feminine strength (i.e. the lack of). This passage was probably meant to balance the male centred ideology that plagued ancient China, and the rest of the world even up till today.

Verse 5: The Center of the Universe

天地不仁，以萬物為芻狗。
Heaven and earth show no moralistic preferences, treating all the 10,000 creatures as straw dogs.
聖人不仁，以百姓為芻狗。
Sages show no moralistic preferences, treating all the people as straw dogs.
天地之間，其猶橐籥乎﹖
Between heaven and earth, something acts like a pipe bellowing.
虛而不屈，動而愈出。
A stillness that never falters, a movement that accelerates itself.
多言數窮，不如守中。
Talking too much about this amounts to little, why not just guard the center?

Comments
Way of the sage is the way of heaven and earth. The latter follows the way of its invisible, paradoxical center that is still and moving at the same time. Since one cannot fully explain a paradox using a rational tool like language, we should just accept paradox as the nature and source of the universe.

Verse 4: The deep abyss, the source.

道沖而用之或不盈。
Tao rushes out with use but its container never needs to be refilled.
淵兮似萬物之宗。
An abyss that seems to be the ancestor of the many things.
挫其銳,
Sharpness is smoothened,
解其紛，
Knots are released,
和其光，
Glare is tempered,
同其塵，
Dust is settled.
湛兮似或存。
A deepness that seems to sustain itself.
吾不知誰之子，象帝之先。
I do not know whose son it is, it seems to come before the supreme being.

Comments
*(Huo means territory in the ancient Chinese). And here is our mysterious well, a deep empty vessel that reverses all things, while magically remaining infinite and eternal. PARADOX! A formless substance, an empty eternity is the source and sustaining force of the universe.

Verse 3: Sagely management

不尚賢， 使民不爭。
By not rewarding the deserving, the people do not fight.
不貴難得之貨，使民不為盜。
By not valuing rare goods as precious, the people do not become thieves.
不見可欲，使民心不亂。
By not seeing objects of desire, the people's hearts do not become confused.
是以聖人之治，
Hence, the sage governs by:
虛其心，實其腹，
Emptying the heart, filling the abdomen;
弱其志，強其骨；
Weakening the will, strengthening the bone;
常使民無知、無欲，
Constantly causes the people to be without knowledge, without desire,
使夫智者不敢為也。
Making the smart afraid to act.
為無為，則無不治。
Taking the action of non-action, everything is governed.

Comments
The first three lines are interpreted as observations, not prescriptions. The key here is to use the mind of the child. "The sage governs by..." becomes the prescription, a pragmatic approach that eschews the higher values of heart and will. Note how the text does not tell you how to achieve this, but tells you the outcome, where the people have no desire (which is always in the mind) and no knowledge (only wisdom). That leaves the reader a lot of space to find the appropriate method. The smart become afraid to act, because their plans easily backfire. In this case, governing without governing (i.e. not spewing out all the propaganda about heart and will) actually achieves everything.

Verse 2: Why Opposites Exist

天下皆知美之為美，斯惡已；
When everyone recognises beauty as beauty, ugliness follows
皆知善之為善，斯不善已。
When everyone recognises good as good, evil follows
故有無相生，
Hence, having and not having are born from each other
難易相成，
Difficult and easy complete each other
長短相形，
Long and short take form from each other
高下相傾，
High and low throw out into each other
音聲相和，
Note and sound harmonize each other
前後相隨。
Before and after follow each other
是以聖人處無為之事，行不言之教。
Thus the sage focuses on non-action endeavors, practises non-speaking instructions.
萬物作焉而不辭。
No matter what the 10,000 things behave as, (it) does not leave.
生而不有，為而不恃，
(It) creates without possessing, acts without relying
功成而弗居。
Work is finished but (it) does not stay.
夫唯弗居，是以不去。
By not staying, his influence does not leave.

Comments
First, the verse talks about how opposites always define each other. Thus, the sage practises non-action.

Then it get confusing. There is a missing noun here, which I have marked by (it). Perhaps the writer talks about an invisible force here, and shows how that force can act as a model for human behavior.

Verse 1: Introduction to the Mystery of Mysteries

道可道，非常道。
The path(Tao) that can be practised is not the constant path/
The way (Tao) that can be described is not the constant way
名可名，非常名。
The name that can be named is not the constant name.
無名天地之始。
Namelessness is the start of heaven and earth
有名萬物之母。
Naming gave birth to the 10,000 things.
故常無欲以觀其妙。
Hence, a lack of desire allows one to see the wonder,
常有欲以觀其徼。
possessing desire allows one to see the surface.
此兩者同出而異名﹐同謂之玄。
These two arrive from the same source but have different names, and
together point towards the dark mystery.
玄之又玄，眾妙之門。
The most mysterious part of the mystery is the gateway to the many wonders.

Comments
The first verse is likely to leave the most powerful impression on any reader. It is highly paradoxical, elusive, layered and poetic (in Chinese). A good point to note is the writer's awareness of the need for a powerful start that can blend with the concerns of a general audience. The common traits of all lifestyles are names, desire, and mystery (that part of the world we fail to explain).

"Naming gave birth to the 10,000 things" is preferred to "Naming is the mother of the 10,000 things". The former is critical of naming, and suggests that it contributes to increasing complexity of objects and ideas (which is observed from Verse 80), while the latter is more ambiguous since mother may have a positive connotation in certain cultures. (nurturing, control)

Some translators note "Possessing desire just let you see the shallow manifestations". I think in this case he's calling for a balance of both- using a lack of desire to understand the fundamental essenses and transformations, the yin and the yang, and using desire to get into mastering the rules of that specific game. This would be loving without being attached, or hating without being attached, both in line with the principle of "non-being".

Verse 80: Small states

This is a very difficult passage.

小國寡民。
The small country with few inhabitants
使有什伯之器而不用。
Creates labor-saving devices without using them,
使民重死而不遠徙。
Makes the inhabitants willing to repeat death without moving away.
雖有舟輿無所乘之。
Boats and vehicles are present, but none are taken
雖有甲兵無所陳之。
Top troops are available, but none are deployed.
使民復結繩而用之。
This makes inhabitants return to use of the rope.
甘其食、
Food is plenty,
美其服、
Clothes are beautiful,
安其居、
Residences are safe,
樂其俗。
Desires are content.
鄰國相望，雞犬之聲相聞。
Neighbor states look at each other, and the different animal sounds are heard together.
民至老死不相往來。
However, inhabitants are disinterested in crossing borders even till their death days.


Comments
One of the ways to look at this is an inverted description of reality. When one thinks of countries, they often strive to be big and possess many citizens. Using the inverted method of reading, we can see how amazing is Laozi's description of civilisation and the international state system. Since every state fits the description below, Laozi was wise to be VERY INDIRECT. haha

"The big country with many citizens often uses labor-saving devices. The citizens are afraid of death and love to move away.Boats and vehicles are used, top troops are deployed. Inhabitants shun the use of the simple rope. Food is inadequate, so more must be produced. Clothes are ugly, so more must be designed. Residences are not safe, so things must be done to secure them. Desires are not fulfilled, and people seek gratification. States are only concerned with themselves (national interest), and lack understanding of other countries (my interpretation of chicken and dog sounds). Inhabitants always think of visiting, because the grass seems much greener on the other side."