Dao De Jing, Chaper 70, Laozi

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 70

"My words are very easy to know,
Very easy to follow.
Yet the world is unable to know them,
Unable to follow them.

My words have a source,
My efforts have mastery.
Indeed, since none know this,
They do not know me.
The rare ones who know me
Must treasure me.

Therefore, Evolved Individuals
Wear a coarse cloth covering
With precious jade at the center."
-  Translated by R. L. Wing, 1986, Chapter 70

"My words are easy to understand and very easy to apply.
But no Ego is able to understand them or apply them.

Words have authority.
Affairs have a history!

It is simply because of their ignorance
that Egos do not understand me.
Those who understand me are few, and
thus I am ennobled.

For this reason, Sages may wear homespun cloth over their shoulders,
but they carry a jewel beyond price in their heart."
-  Translated by Jerry C. Welch, 1998, Chapter 70  

"Easy are my words to know, and also to practice.
Yet none is able to understand nor yet to practice them.
For there is a remote origin for my words, and a supreme law for my actions.
Not knowing these, men cannot know me.
Those who know me are few, and by them I am esteemed.
For the wise man is outwardly poor, but he carries his jewel in his bosom."
-  Translated by Walter Gorn Old, 1904, Chapter 70


My words are very easy to understand and very easy to put into practice, yet in all the world no one appears to understand them or to practice them. 
Words have an ancestor (a preceding idea), deeds have a master (a preceding purpose), and just as these are often not understood, so I am not understood. 
They who understand me are very few, and on that account I am worthy of honor.
The wise man wears wool (rather than silk) and keeps his gems out of sight."
-  Translated by Dwight Goddard and Henri Borel, 1919, Chapter 70 


"My words are very easy to understand,
And very easy to put into practice,
Yet there should have been no one in the world
Who can understand them
Or can put them into practice.
Words must be purpose-oriented,
Deeds must be reasonably grounded.
People cannot understand me
Because they fail to understand what is said above.
Those who understand me are few;
Those who can follow my advice are even less.
That is why the sage
Is always dressed in coarse cloth
But conceals about him a beautiful piece of jade (the Tao)."
-  Translated by Gu Zengkun, Chapter 70  


吾言甚易知, 甚易行.
天下莫能知, 莫能行.
言有宗.
事有君.
夫唯無知, 是以不我知.
知我者希.
則我者貴.
是以聖人被褐懷玉.
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 70

wu yen shên yi chih, shên yi hsing.
t'ien hsia mo nêng chih, mo nêng hsing.
yen yu tsung.
shih yu chün.
fu wei wu chih, shih yi pu wu chih.
chih wu chê hsi. 
tsê wu chê kuei.
shih yi shêng jên pei ho huai yü. 
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 70 


"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."
-  Translated by Stan Rosenthal, 1984, Chapter 70  


"My words are so simple to understand
and so easily put into practice
that no one in all beneath heaven understands them
and no one puts them into practice.
Words have their ancestral origins and actions their sovereign:
it's only because people don't understand this that they don't understand me.
And the less people understand me the more precious I become.
So it is that a sage wears sackcloth, keeping pure jade harbored deep."
-  Translated by David Hinton, Chapter 70 


"La palabras tienen un origen; los hechos, una ley.
Mis palabras son fáciles de comprender y fáciles de seguir,
Y, sin embargo, nadie las comprende y nadie las practica.
Es la sabiduría la que impide al hombre acercarse a mi.
Son pocos los que me siguen, porque estoy más allá de toda alabanza.
Por ello el Sabio se cubre con una tela tosca, pero guarda joyas en su seno.
Conoce su valor, pero no lo ostenta. 
Se ama a sí mismo, pero no se tiene en alta estima.
Rechaza lo último y se ciñe a lo primero."
-  Translated from Chinese into English by Ch'u Ta-Kao, Translated from English into Spanish by Caridad Diaz Faes, Capítulo 70

"My words are most easily known,

Most easy to practice, too,

But none in the world my words can know,

And their practice can pursue.

 

There's an Ancestry in my words,

There's a Head for the things I preach,

But, because they are all misunderstood,

They know not what I teach.

 

The ones who know me are few,

But the few who know me prize,

Though the sage may wear a hair-cloth garb,

The gem in his bosom lies."
-  Translated by Isaac Winter Heysinger, 1903, Chapter 70

"My teaching is very easy to understand,
And very easy to carry out.
Yet the world is incapable of understanding it,
And incapable of carrying it out.
My teaching has an ancient source,
My practices have a ruling principle.
As people are ignorant of this,
So they fail to understand me.
When those who understand me are few,
Then I am distinguished indeed.
That's why the Sage wears a coarse cotton robe,
To conceal the jade ornament worn on his bosom."
-  Translated by Henry Wei, 1982, Chapter 70 


"My words are easy to understand, easy to put in practice; yet the world can neither understand nor practice them.
My words have an underlying intent; my actions have a ruling motive.
It is only ignorance that causes men not to understand my doctrine. 
Those who understand me are few; those who copy me are worthy.
Wherefore the Sage dresses in coarse robes while hiding a jewel in his breast."
-  Translated by Frederic Henry Balfour, 1884, Chapter 70 


Chapter 71, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List  

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey