Line by Line - Verse 31, Lines 5-6

Those sharp weapons are instruments of evil omen, and not the instruments of the superior man;--he uses them only on the compulsion of necessity.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man's tools.
He uses them only when he has no choice.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

The military is a tool of misfortune
Not the tool of honorable gentlemen
When using it out of necessity
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

The Master, knowing that all things came from Tao,
recognizes what he has in common with his enemies.
But when there is no other choice, he uses force reluctantly.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

When I have written about force or violence before, some readers have pointed out that nature itself can be forceful or violent. A lion taking down a wildebeest is not for the faint of heart. A volcano doesn't meekly blow its top.

From my perspective, there is a difference between the utilization of force in nature and the use of force by people. For the former, it is part of their internal nature and it is not utilized as a form of malice or based on perceived entitlement. For humans, however, force and violence generally are committed willfully.

These two forces often spring from our desires, not our needs. We want something and so we take it. If someone gets in our way or tries thwart our desires, we roughly toss them aside. In other words, we tend to use force when it is not needed and this is why I think it is opposed to the Way.

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