Chapter 66
Part 2: Te Ching
Putting One's Self Last
Chapter 66Visible text2 paragraphs
That whereby the rivers and seas are able to receive the homage and tribute of all the valley streams, is their skill in being lower than they; it is thus that they are the kings of them all.
So it is that the sage (ruler), wishing to be above men, puts himself by his words below them, and, wishing to be before them, places his person behind them.