Line by Line - Verse 28, Lines 7-8

Who knows how white attracts,
Yet always keeps himself within black's shade,
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Know the white,
But keep the black!
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Know the white, hold to the black
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

If you are idealistic, but stay rooted in reality,
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

In reference to these lines, in conjunction with a few early ones in this verse, Wang Tao (as quoted by Red Pine) has this to say as a way of explanation:

"White" and "black" refer to light and dark. Although hard, noble, and light certainly have their uses, hard does not come from hard but from soft. Noble does not come from noble but from humble. And light does not come from light but from dark. Hard, noble, and light are the secondary forms and farther from the Tao. Soft, humble, and dark are the primary forms and closer to the Tao.

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