beck

My Ideas Are Easy
My ideas are easy to understand and easy to practice.
Yet no one understands them or practices them.
My ideas have a source; my actions have a master.
Because people do not understand this, they do not know me.
Since few know me, I am very precious.
Therefore the wise wear coarse clothes
and keep the jewel inside.

blakney

Honour comes when least I'm Known ...

My words are easy just to understand:
To live by them is very easy too;
Yet it appears that none in all the world
Can understand or make them come to life.

My words have ancestors, wy works a prince;
Since none know this, unknown I too remain.
But honor comes to me when least I'm known:
The Wise Man, with a jewel in his breast,
Goes clad in garments made of shoddy stuff.

byrn

My words are very easy to understand and very easy to put into practice. Yet no one understands them; no one puts them into practice.
But some of my teaching could have nature as a source, and also there's a principle-ruled ancestry in some of my words.
Yes, [some of] my deeds have a lord; my deeds could have [right] dao as sovereign.
Most men don't understand this, they're unable to understand me.

Few people understand me, and on this my real value depends. I am highly valued, for few understand me.
The wise man wears a coarse cloth on top and carries jade underneath his dress, within his bosom.

feng

My words are easy to understand and easy to perform,
Yet no man under heaven knows them or practices them.

My words have ancient beginnings.
My actions are disciplined.
Because men do not understand, they have no knowledge of me.

Those that know me are few;
Those that abuse me are honored.
Therefore the sage wears rough clothing and holds the jewel in his heart.

ganson

My teachings are easily understood
and readily put into practice.
Yet not everyone understands them,
not everyone practices them.

Words have specific origins,
deeds specific controls.
Not having such knowledge,
people do not know me.
Being unknown, honor is mine.
Unknown, I am distinguished.

The wise wear common clothes
and carry jewels in their hearts.

gnl

Individuality
My words are easy to understand
And my actions are easy to perform
Yet no other can understand or perform them.

My words have meaning; my actions have reason;
Yet these cannot be known and I cannot be known.

We are each unique, and therefore valuable;
Though the sage wears coarse clothes, his heart is jade.

hansen

Difficulty in Knowing How
My words are profoundly easy to know.
Profoundly easy to perform.
In the social world none are able to know or to perform.
Language has an ancestor and social affairs have a ruler.
In general only lacking know-how--this counts as my know-how.
If those who know me are rare then things of mine are valuable.
Using this: Sages wrap precious jade in burlap.

legge

My words are very easy to know, and very easy to practise; but
there is no one in the world who is able to know and able to practise
them.

There is an originating and all-comprehending (principle) in my
words, and an authoritative law for the things (which I enforce). It
is because they do not know these, that men do not know me.

They who know me are few, and I am on that account (the more) to be
prized. It is thus that the sage wears (a poor garb of) hair cloth,
while he carries his (signet of) jade in his bosom.

mccarroll

My words are easy to understand
and easy to put into practice.
Yet no one under heaven understands them
or puts them into practice.

My words have an ancestor. My actions are governed.

Because people do not understand this
they do not understand me.
Those who understand me are few.
Those who follow me should be respected.

Therefore, the True Person wears homespun clothes
and carries jade in the heart.

mcdonald

My words are easy to understand
and easier to put into practice.
Yet no one in the world seems to understand them,
and are not able to apply what I teach.

My teachings come from the ancients,
the things I do are done for a reason.

Because you do not know me,
you are not able to understand my teachings.
Because those who know me are few,
my teachings become even more precious.

merel

Individuality

My words are easy to understand
And my actions are easy to perform
Yet no man can understand or perform them.

My words have logic; my actions have meaning;
Yet these cannot be known and I cannot be known.

We are each unique; no man understands another.
Though the sage wears coarse clothes, his heart is jade.

merel2

Ambush
There is a saying among soldiers:
It is easier to lose a yard than take an inch.
In this manner one may deploy troops without marshalling them,
Bring weapons to bear without exposing them,
Engage the foe without invading them,
And exhaust their strength without fighting them.
There is no worse disaster than misunderstanding your enemy;
To do so endangers all of my treasures;
So when two well matched forces oppose each other,
The general who maintains compassion will win.

mitchell

My teachings are easy to understand
and easy to put into practice.
Yet your intellect will never grasp them,
and if you try to practice them, you'll fail.

My teachings are older than the world.
How can you grasp their meaning?

If you want to know me,
look inside your heart.

muller

My words are easy to understand
And easy to practice.
Yet nobody understands them or practices them.
My words have an origin;
My actions have a principle.
It is only because of your not understanding this
That you do not understand me.
Since there are few who understand me
I am valued.
Therefore the sage wears coarse clothes.
Yet hides a jewel in his bosom.

rosenthal

HIDDEN IDENTITY
Though the words of the sage are simple,
and his actions easily performed,
they are few among many,
who can speak or act as a sage.

For the ordinary man it is difficult
to know the way of a sage,
perhaps because his words
are from the distant past,
and his actions naturally disposed.

Those who know the way of the sage
are few and far between,
but those who treat him with honesty,
will be honoured by him and the Tao.

He knows he makes no fine display,
and wears rough clothes, not finery.
It is not in his expectancy of men
that they should understand his ways,
for he carries his jade within his heart.