Line by Line - Verse 81, Line 10

With all the sharpness of the Way of Heaven, it injures not;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

The Tao of heaven is pointed but does no harm.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

The Tao of heaven
Benefits and does not harm
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

If you want to get right with Tao,
help other people, don't hurt them.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

How can Lao Tzu write that Tao doesn't harm anyone? We each will die, won't we?

If we each emanate from the One, then all we really do is to change form. From this standpoint, death is not negation. It is merely a different step in a never ending transformation.

If death does not represent an end -- a final point -- how could it then be harmful?

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