Chapter 79

和大怨，必有餘怨；
報怨以德，安可以為善？
是以聖人執左契，而不責於人。
有德司契，無德司徹。
天道無親，常與善人。

When a great resentment is settled, some resentment is sure to remain;
if one repays resentment with virtue, how can that be counted good?
That is why the sage holds the left half of the tally and makes no demands on others.¹
One who has virtue takes charge of the tally; one without virtue takes charge of the tithe.²
The Way of heaven has no favorites; it is always with the good man.

Notes

1. 1. In old agreements a strip of wood was notched and split in two. The lender kept the left half and matched it with the other when the debt came due.

2. 2. The Chinese is 徹, the tax of the Zhou dynasty that took a fixed share of the harvest.