Line by Line - Verse 27, Lines 10-11

he is always skillful at saving things,
and so he does not cast away anything.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

He takes care of all things
And abandons nothing.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

They often save things
And so do not abandon anything
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

They uses their resources wisely,
wasting nothing.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Let's look at how others translate these two lines. This way you can pick the interpretation that you like best! :-)

Therefore sages always consider it good to save people,
so that there are no wasted humans;
~ Thomas Cleary ~

thus the sage is good at saving
and yet abandons no one
nor anything of use
~ Red Pine ~

he is always good at saving things,
so that none are thrown away.
~ R.B. Blakney ~

He is always good at saving things
and consequently nothing is rejected.
~ Wing-tsit Chan ~

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