老子《道德經(jīng)》英譯第八章

　　上善若水。水善利萬物而不爭，處眾人之所惡，故幾于道。

　　居善地，心善淵，與善仁，言善信，政善治，事善能，動善時。

　　夫唯不爭，故無尤。

　　【現(xiàn)代漢語】

　　具有良好個性的事物或人就像水一樣。滋潤萬物而不爭奪利益，停留在為眾人所厭惡的低位之處，所以，這樣的人和事物最接近‘道’。

　　他們能使自己居于利人的位置;心胸善于保持謙退、沉靜;善于幫助他人成就事業(yè);待人誠信;善以‘道’的準(zhǔn)則從事政治活動;處事善于發(fā)揮(自己和他人的)所長;善于在適宜的時機(jī)行動。來源：考試大

　　是因為具有接近于‘道’的品行，所以自然能夠達(dá)到以上的描述的境界，而后才能做到?jīng)]有失誤和怨咎。

　　【英譯】

　　The persons or things that have the highest excellence are just like water. They benefit all things instead of contention. They stay at the lowest place which all men dislike. So this kind of persons and things are very close to 'Tao'.

　　They stay at the favorable place for all people. They make their heart keep still and modest. They are good at assisting others to obtain achievement. They can manage government affairs in Tao's guide line. They are adept in taking advantage of resources. Their action and movement is in suitable time.

　　They can achieve the perfect conditions hereinbefore because they have good character which is accord with the standard of Tao's. And then, they will have no fault and blame.

　　【備注】

　　本章中很多詞句被廣為引用，以為成語。尤“上善若水”為人耳熟能詳。但真正理解其內(nèi)涵的卻非全部，甚至可能會有誤解。

　　老子以水起興，闡明其哲學(xué)思想中根本原則之一——不爭，而觀其全篇，也不外乎此，其本質(zhì)則是寡欲。圣人之所以圣，因其克己自如(從心所欲不逾矩);同時洞悉人性，不勉強(qiáng)人人皆圣，故只勸導(dǎo)“寡”欲，而非禁欲。

　　上寡欲而下自從，民風(fēng)自正。這是先賢期盼并努力引導(dǎo)社會走向進(jìn)步繁榮(有欲使然)而又不失體統(tǒng)秩序(寡欲使然)的崇高理想。