Line by Line - Verse 63, Line 5

and to recompense injury with kindness.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Reward bitterness with care.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Respond to hatred with virtue
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

When people give you trouble,
let it slide.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

For me, the message here is much the same as the famous quote of Mahatma Gandhi: "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." When we choose to return hate for hate, then hate becomes us.

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