Line by Line - Verse 81, Line 9

the more that he gives to others, the more does he have himself.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

The more he gives to others, the greater his abundance.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

The more they give to others, the more they gain
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

so they always have more to give.
They give away whatever they have, so what they have is worth more.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Again, let's turn to John Lash to sum up the essence of this line.

The closer that you come to Oneness with all things, the closer I come to such Oneness.

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.