上德不德，是以有德。下德不失德，是以無德。
1. (Those who) possessed in highest degree the attributes (of the Dào) did not (seek) to show them, and therefore they possessed them (in fullest measure). (Those who) possessed in a lower degree those attributes (sought how) not to lose them, and therefore they did not possess them (in fullest measure).
上德無為而無以為。下德為之而有以為。
2. (Those who) possessed in the highest degree those attributes did nothing (with a purpose), and had no need to do anything. (Those who) possessed them in a lower degree were (always) doing, and had need to be so doing.
上仁為之而無以為。上義為之而有以為。
3. (Those who) possessed the highest benevolence were (always seeking) to carry it out, and had no need to be doing so. (Those who) possessed the highest righteousness were (always seeking) to carry it out, and had need to be so doing.
上禮為之而莫之應，則攘臂而扔之。
4. (Those who) possessed the highest (sense of) propriety were (always seeking) to show it, and when men did not respond to it, they bared the arm and marched up to them.
故失道而後德；失德而後仁；失仁而後義；失義而後禮。
5. Thus it was that when the Dào was lost, its attributes appeared; when its attributes were lost, benevolence appeared; when benevolence was lost, righteousness appeared; and when righteousness was lost, the proprieties appeared.
夫禮者忠信之薄，而亂之首；前識者道之華，而愚之始。
6. Now propriety is the attenuated form of leal-heartedness and good faith, and is also the commencement of disorder; swift apprehension is (only) a flower of the Dào, and is the beginning of stupidity.
是以大丈夫處其厚，不居其薄；處其實不居其華。故去彼取此。
7. Thus it is that the Great man abides by what is solid, and eschews what is flimsy; dwells with the fruit and not with the flower. It is thus that he puts away the one and makes choice of the other.
Legge's Comments
論德, 'About the Attributes;' of Dào, that is. It is not easy to render dé here by any other English term than 'virtue,' and yet there would be a danger of its thus misleading us in the interpretation of the chapter.
The 'virtue' is the activity or operation of the Dào, which is supposed to have come out of its absoluteness. Even Hán Fēi so defines it here,—'Dé is the meritorious work of the Dào.'
In par. 5 we evidently have a résumé of the preceding paragraphs, and, as it is historical, I translate them in the past tense; though what took place on the early stage of the world may also be said to go on taking place in the experience of every individual. With some considerable hesitation I have given the subjects in those paragraphs in the concrete, in deference to the authority of Héshàng Gōng and most other commentators. The former says, 'By "the highest dé" is to be understood the rulers of the greatest antiquity, without name or designation, whose virtue was great, and could not be surpassed.' Most ingenious, and in accordance with the Daoistic system, is the manner in which Wú Chéng construes the passage, and I am surprised that it has not been generally accepted. By 'the higher dé' he understands 'the Dào,' that which is prior to and above the Dé (上德者，在德之上，道也); by 'the lower dé,' benevolence, that which is after and below the Dé; by 'the higher benevolence,' the Dé which is above benevolence; by 'the higher righteousness,' the benevolence which is above righteousness; and by 'the higher propriety,' the righteousness which is above propriety. Certainly in the summation of these four paragraphs which we have in the fifth, the subjects of them would appear to have been in the mind of Lǎozǐ as thus defined by Wú.
In the remainder of the chapter he goes on to speak depreciatingly of ceremonies and knowledge, so that the whole chapter must be understood as descriptive of the process of decay and deterioration from the early time in which the Dào and its attributes swayed the societies of men.