Line by Line - Verse 69, Line 5

baring the arms (to fight) where there are no arms to bare;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Rolling up your sleeves without showing your arm,
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Raising arms without arms
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

preparing for battle without revealing your strength.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

From my perspective, this line is about grandstanding. If we spend all of our time running around trying to show how tough we are, we are inviting conflict. While we may scare off some people, others will want to challenge us to see if we are as tough as advertised! It's like wearing a t-shirt that says, Bring It On, Baby!

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