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Chapter 68

善为士者不武

善shàn为wéi士shì者zhě不bù武wǔ；
善shàn战zhàn者zhě不bù怒nù；
善shàn胜shèng敌dí者zhě不bù与yǔ；
善shàn用yòng人rén者zhě为wéi之zhī下xià。
是shì谓wèi不bù争zhēng之zhī德dé，
是shì谓wèi用yòng人rén之zhī力lì，
是shì谓wèi配pèi天tiān古gǔ之zhī极jí。

A good warrior does not act fearsome; one good at battle does not become angry; one good at defeating the enemy does not contest; one good at directing people takes the lower position. This is the virtue of not contending; this is called directing the strength of others; this is called companion to Tian – the utmost limit of the past.

A modern classroom translation, with labeled subsections for study.

© 2010, 2016, 2019 Robert Eno. Freely available for personal use and not-for-profit educational settings. For other purposes, apart from fair use, copyright is not waived.