Tao Te Ching

Tao Te Ching is an ancient Chinese philosophical text traditionally attributed to Laozi and generally dated to the late Warring States period, although its authorship and precise date remain debated. Its title can be translated as “The Classic of the Way and Its Power.”

Across 81 sections, the text considers how people and rulers might live in harmony with the Tao—the Way or underlying course of the world. It emphasizes simplicity, humility, naturalness, and wu wei, often translated as nonaction or effortless action.

Its brief, paradoxical verses develop philosophical ideas about virtue, desire, knowledge, government, and the limits of language.

The book has been translated into a multitude of languages and is still very influential today, especially in Eastern philosophy, but also in Western thought.

This edition of the book Tao Te Ching is based on James Legge's translation.

"Ch. 1. 1. The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name.
2. (Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth; (conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of all things."