"Great achievements seem like drawbacks yet there are none. Great surpluses seem like dilutions yet they are unlimited. Great straightness stretches until it appears bent.
Great skills seem clumsy. Great debates seem like stammers.
Restlessness overcomes cold, stillness overcomes heat. Clarity and quietness corrects the world."
The above is my simple rendition of Chapter 45 of the Tao Te Ching. The first sentence of the last verse can also be translated as ‘Stillness overcomes restlessness, cold overcomes heat’. However it does not quite make sense therefore one follows the various established translators; since I was not too sure about the quality of the Mandarin version read on the web.
The Chinese for ‘Zheng’ which appeared as the last word in the chapter contains multiple meanings such as correct, correctness, upright, central, just and honest depending on what Laozi wanted to say.
Based on the assumption that in this chapter, Laozi was talking about sitting and forgetting, through the actions of stillness, clarity and quietness; the cultivator corrects his/her world.
Again, please remember to take the rendition with a pinch of salt.
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