It is the one that is sorrow-stricken that wins

Here's a verse from the Tao Te Ching, a classical collection of wise sayings from the fourth century B.C., which is attributed to a contemporary of Confucius called, Lao Tzu.

The pictured copy is a 1987 reprint of the original 1963 translation by D.C.Lau ... I bought this in London in July 1988 ...

... I have never tired of reading it, over all of the intervening 28-years.

The collection espouses a philosophy of meekness as the surest path to survival - much of it clearly completely forgotten in today's modern, political world :-(


Verse 69

The strategists have a saying,
I dare not play the host but play the guest,
I dare not advance an inch but retreat a foot instead.

This is known as marching forward when there is no road,
Rolling up one's sleeves when there is no arm,
Dragging one's adversary by force when there is no adversary,
And taking up arms when there are no arms.

There is no disaster greater than taking on an enemy too easily.
So doing nearly cost me my treasure.
Thus of two sides raising arms against each other,
It is the one that is sorrow-stricken that wins.

---