Line by Line - Verse 40, Line 1

The movement of the Tao
By contraries proceeds;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Returning is the motion of the Tao.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

The returning is the movement of the Tao
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Tao is always heading
back to where it came from.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

A straight line has a definitive starting point and, often, an end point. A circle, on the other hand, has no definitive start point and the arc continually flows into itself.

The circle is a symbolic representation of a cycle, such as the seasons. Each phase flows into the next and, in a manner of speaking, returns from whence it came.

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