第四十四章 Dao De Jing · Chapter 44
Fame and possessions cost more than they give; knowing what is enough lets you last.
Text
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名与身孰亲？
Fame or your life: which is dearer?
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身与货孰多？
Your life or your goods: which is worth more?
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得与亡孰病？
Gain or loss: which does more harm?
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是故甚爱必大费，
So great attachment is sure to cost much,
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多藏必厚亡，知足不辱，
and great hoarding is sure to bring heavy loss. Knowing what is enough, you are not disgraced;
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知止不殆，可以长久。
knowing when to stop, you are not in danger, and can last long.
Words in this chapter
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 名 | míng | fame, a name |
| 与 | yǔ | with, and |
| 身 | shēn | oneself, the person |
| 孰 | shú | who, which |
| 亲 | qīn | to love, to feel close to |
| 货 | huò | goods, valuables |
| 多 | duō | much, many |
| 得 | dé | to get, to obtain |
| 亡 | wáng | loss, to lose |
| 病 | bìng | harm, affliction |
| 是 | shì | this |
| 故 | gù | therefore |
| 甚 | shèn | the extreme |
| 爱 | ài | to love, care for |
| 必 | bì | surely, inevitably |
| 大 | dà | great, big |
| 费 | fèi | to cost, to squander |
| 藏 | cáng | to hoard |
| 厚 | hòu | thick, heavy, generous |
| 知足 | zhī zú | knowing what is enough |
| 不 | bù | not |
| 辱 | rǔ | disgrace |
| 知 | zhī | to know |
| 止 | zhǐ | to stop, to rest |
| 殆 | dài | danger, peril |
| 可 | kě | can be |
| 以 | yǐ | by means of, with |
| 长 | cháng | long, long-lasting |
| 久 | jiǔ | lasting, long |
Compare: James Legge (1891)
Or fame or life,
Which do you hold more dear?
Or life or wealth,
To which would you adhere?
Keep life and lose those other things;
Keep them and lose your life:--which brings
Sorrow and pain more near?
Thus we may see,
Who cleaves to fame
Rejects what is more great;
Who loves large stores
Gives up the richer state.
Who is content
Needs fear no shame.
Who knows to stop
Incurs no blame.
From danger free
Long live shall he.
Public domain. Source: Wikisource.
Meaning of chapter 44
Chapter 44 weighs fame and possessions against one's own life and concludes that knowing what is enough is what lets a person last.
It opens with three questions. Fame or your life: which is dearer? Your life or your goods: which is worth more? Gain or loss: which does more harm? The questions answer themselves, and the third turns the usual view around: gaining can hurt more than losing. 身, translated here as "your life", means the whole person, body and self together.
The second half gives the reason in two lines. Great attachment is sure to cost much, and great hoarding is sure to bring heavy loss. Then the remedy: knowing what is enough (知足), you are not disgraced; knowing when to stop (知止), you are not in danger and can last long. The two phrases join chapters 32 and 33, and chapter 46 says that no disaster is greater than not knowing what is enough. Chapter 13 also asks what one's own person is worth beside the world.