strong : #3, #29, #30, #33, #36, #52, #67, #78 essence : #21 knowing the ever-constant speaks of insight : #16 Qi : #10, #42 when creatures are robust but old : #30 “not Dao” has an early finish : #30 Chapter Fifty Six 知 者 不 言 • 言 者 不 知 • 塞 其 兌 閉 其 門 挫 其 銳 解 其 紛 和 其 光 同 其 塵 是 謂 玄 同 • (•)故 不 可 得 而 親 • 不 可 得 而 疏 • 不 可 得 而 利 不 可 得 而 害 不 可 得 而 貴 不 可 得 而 賤 (•)故 為 天 下 貴 • He who knows does not speak; He who speaks does not know. Block your senses, close your gateway. Blunt your sharpness, Loosen your tangles, Soften your brightness, Be the same as the dust of the world. This is called a deep and mysterious sameness. Therefore : you can not gain it and be friendly, Can not gain it and be unfriendly, Can not gain it and benefit, Can not gain it and cause harm, Can not gain it and have high rank, Can not gain it and be lowly. Therefore you become valuable to the world. ♦He who knows does not speak; ♦He who speaks does not know. ♦Block your senses°, close your gateway. [his] [his] Blunt your sharpness, [dampens,subdues] [his] ♦Loosen your tanglesA, [his] Soften your brightness,B [his] ♦Be [you] the same as the dust of the world C. [his] ♦This is called a deep and mysterious sameness. ♦Therefore : you can not gain itD and be friendly, [love,in favor of] ♦Can not gain it and be unfriendly, ♦Can not gain it and benefit, ♦Can not gain it and cause harm, ♦Can not gain it and have high rank, ♦Can not gain it and be lowly. [worthless] ♦Therefore youE become valuable to the world2. Notes A : this line could also be translated as Clarify your confusion B : compare to #58, where the sage is bright but does not dazzle C : according to Waley, “dust” is a metaphor for the “noise and fuss of everyday life” D : there is no noun in the original Chinese, so you decide what “it” is! E : “it” (whatever “it” is in the previous lines) could just as reasonably be used here Cross-references gateway : #1, #6, #10, #52 block your senses, close your gateway : #52 blunt the sharpness : #4 loosen the tangles : #4 soften the brightness : #4 dust of the world : #4 mystery : #1, #6, #10, #15, #27, #51, #62, #65 mysterious sameness : #1 no harm : #35, #58, #60, #66, #81 being valuable : #62, #70 therefore become valuable to the world : #62