Line by Line - Verse 67, Line 6

and the third is shrinking from taking precedence of others.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

The third is daring not to be ahead of others.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

The third is called not daring to be ahead in the world
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

and modesty,
or knowing your place in the world.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

For this line, Jonathan Star identifies the operative word as being hsien: first, in front of, ahead of, "the lead," leader or foremost. Following from yesterday's entry, we could say that the compassionate person who eschews monopolizing more than they need is the kind of individual who never places themselves before others.

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