Tao Te Ching Chapter 7
paulpengThe Original Chinese Text
天长地久。天地所以能长且久者，以其不自生，故能长生。是以圣人后其身而身先；外其身而身存。非以其无私耶？故能成其私。
Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long.
The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live of, or for,themselves. This is how they are able to continue andendure. Therefore the sage puts his own person last, and yet it is found in the foremost place; he treats his person as if it were foreign to him, and yet that person is preserved.Is it not because he has no personal and private ends, that therefore such ends are realised?
【译文】天地是久远存在的。天地之所以能够久远存在，是因其不为自己的存在而有为，所以能够久远的存在。因此，圣人治理天下把自身放在利益的后面反而会得到利益；不把个人的利益放在首位反而能够保全自身。这不正是因为他的无私吗？反而能够成就个人。
Heaven and earth have existed for a long time. The reason why heaven and earth can exist for a long time is that they do not act solely for their own existence, so they can endure for a long time. Therefore, when a sage governs the world, by putting his own interests behind, he will instead gain benefits; by not giving priority to his personal interests, he can preserve himself. Isn't it precisely because of his selflessness that he can achieve his own worth?
