Shruti - Smriti

Waley
What is of all things most yielding Can overwhelm that which is of all things most hard. Being substanceless it can enter even where is no space; That is how I know the value of action that is actionless. But that there can be teaching without words, Value in action that is actionless, Few indeed can understand.
Wieger
A. Partout et toujours, c’est le mou qui use le dur (l’eau use la pierre). Le non être pénètre même là où il n’y a pas de fissure (les corps les plus homogènes, (…)

Waley
Tao gave birth to the One; The One gave birth successively to two things, Three things, up to ten thousand. These ten thousand creatures cannot turn their backs to the shade Without having the sun on their bellies, And it is on this blending of the breaths that their harmony depends.
To be orphaned, needy, ill-provided is what men most hate; Yet princes and dukes style themselves so.
Truly, “things are often increased by seeking to diminish them And diminished by seeking to (…)

Waley
When the man of highest capacities hears Tao He does his best to put it into practice. When the man of middling capacity hears Tao He is in two minds about it. When the man of low capacity hears Tao He laughs loudly at it. If he did not laugh, it would not be worth the name of Tao. Therefore the proverb has it: “The way out into the light often looks dark, The way that goes ahead often looks as if it went back.” The way that is least hilly often looks as if it went up and down, The (…)

Waley
In Tao the only motion is returning; The only useful quality, weakness. For though all creatures under heaven are the products of Being, Being itself is the product of Not-being.
Wieger
A. Le retour en arrière (vers le Principe), est la forme de mouvement caractéristique de ceux qui se conforment au Principe. L’atténuation est l’effet que produit en eux leur conformation au Principe.
B. Considérant que tout ce qui est, est né de l’être simple, et que l’être est né du non être (…)

Waley
As for the things that from of old have understood the Whole — The sky through such understanding remains limpid, Earth remains steady, The spirits keep their holiness, The abyss is replenished, The ten thousand creatures bear their kind, Barons and princes direct their people. It is the Whole that causes it. Were it not so limpid, the sky would soon get torn, Were is not for steadiness, the earth would soon tip over, Were it not for their holiness, the spirit would soon wither away. (…)

Original
Un corps inerte semblable à ceux qu’on trouve dans l’univers matériel — ou encore qu’on peut construire en utilisant les processus matériels arrachés à celui-ci, en les organisant et en les combinant selon les lois de la physique -, un tel corps ne sent et n’éprouve rien. Il ne se sent pas et ne s’éprouve pas lui-même, il ne s’aime ni ne se désire. Encore moins sent-il ou éprouve-t-il, aime-t-il ou désire-t-il aucune des choses qui l’entourent. Selon la remarque profonde de (…)

Waley
The man of highest “power” does not reveal himself as a possessor of “power”; Therefore he keeps his “power”. The man of inferior “power” cannot rid it of the appearance of “power”; Therefore he is in truth without “power”. The man of highest “power” neither acts nor is there any who so regards him; The man of inferior “power” both acts and is so regarded. The man of highest humanity, though he acts, is not regarded; Whereas a man of even the highest morality both acts and is so (…)

Waley
Tao never does; Yet through it all things are done. If the barons and kings would but possess themselves of it, The ten thousand creatures would at once be transformed. And if having been transformed they should desire to act, We must restrain them by the blankness of the Unnamed. The blankness of the Unnamed Brings dispassion; To be dispassionate is to be still. And so, of itself, the whole empire will be at rest.
Wieger
A. Le Principe est toujours non agissant (n’agit pas (…)

Waley
What is in the end to be shrunk Must first be stretched. Whatever is to be weakened Must begin by being made strong. What is to be overthrown Must begin by being set up. He who would be a taker Must begin as a giver. This is called “dimming” one’s light. It is thus that the soft overcomes the hard And the weak, the strong. “It is best to leave the fish down in his pool; Best to leave the State’s sharpest weapons wherenone can see them.”
Wieger
A. Le commencement de la (…)

Waley
He who holding the Great From goes about his work in the empire Can go about his, yet do no harm. All is peace, quietness and security. Sound of music, smell of good dishes Will make the passing stranger pause. How difference the words that Tao gives forth! So thin, so flavourless! If one looks for Tao, there is nothing solid to see; If one listens for it, there is nothing loud enough to hear. Yet if one uses it, it is inexhaustible.
Wieger
A. Parce qu’il ressemble au grand (…)