Not only does the term Tao (word, reason) correspond quite closely to the Greek term Logos, but Lao-Tze preaches the ethics of requiting hatred with goodness. He insists on the necessity of becoming like unto a little child, of returning to primitive simplicity and purity, of non-assertion and non-resistance, and promises that the deficient will be made entire, the crooked will be straightened, the empty will be filled, the worn will be renewed, those who have too little will receive, while those who have too much will be bewildered. 

The Tao Teh King is brief, but it is filled to the brim with suggestive thoughts. In the present edition of the " Canon of Reason and Virtue," the translator has incorporated all the changes and emendations which he proposes in the preface to the second issue of his more complete work on the same subject, entitled Lao-Tze" 's Tao Teh King. 

The latter contains a historical introduction, the Chinese text, a transliteration, explanatory notes and an index, including the Chinese terms. 

The present extract is limited to that portion which to English-speaking people is of universal interest, the English translation. For the convenience of the reader and to prevent confusion in quotations, the paging of this larger book has been retained in this extract. May this little book fulfil its mission and be a witness to the religious spirit and philosophical depth of a foreign nation whose habits, speech, and dress are strange to us. 

We are not alone in the world; there are others who search for the truth and are groping after it. Let us become better acquainted with them, let us greet them as brothers, let us understand them and appreciate their ideals!