Putting Himself Last
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江海所以能為百谷王者，以其善下之，故能為百谷王。是以聖人欲上民，必以言下之。欲先民，必以身後之。是以聖人處上而民不重，處前而民不害。是以天下樂推而不厭，以其不爭，故天下莫能與之爭。
The reason the rivers and the sea can be king of the hundred valleys is that they are good at lying below them; so they can be king of the hundred valleys. So when the sage wants to be above the people, he must in his words place himself below them; when he wants to be ahead of the people, he must in his person place himself behind them. So the sage stays above, yet the people do not find him heavy; he stays in front, yet the people do not harm him. So the world gladly pushes him forward and does not tire of him. Because he does not contend, no one in the world can contend with him.
Why a ruler who wants to lead has to learn to follow, illustrated by rivers running down to the sea.
Lying low is the whole method, for the sea and for the sage alike, and it is why the people push him forward without feeling his weight.
In the print, the chapter’s title uses a character that elsewhere in this book stands for “already”; read for sense here, as everywhere it appears this way, it means “himself”, so the title reads “putting himself last”, matching the chapter’s image of the sage stepping behind the people he leads. This text also names “the sage” at the start of the couplet about leading from behind, where the more familiar version leaves the subject unstated.
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