“The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name. (Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth; (conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of all things. Always without desire we must be found, If its deep mystery we would sound; But if desire always within us be, Its outer fringe is all that we shall see. Under these two aspects, it is really the same; but as development takes place, it receives the different names. Together we call them the Mystery. Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that is subtle and wonderful.”

“All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what ugliness is; they all know the skill of the skilful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what the want of skill is. So it is that existence and non-existence give birth the one to (the idea of) the other; that difficulty and ease produce the one (the idea of) the other; that length and shortness fashion out the one the figure of the other; that (the ideas of) height and lowness arise from the contrast of the one with the other; that the musical notes and tones become harmonious through the relation of one with another; and that being before and behind give the idea of one following another. Therefore the sage manages affairs without doing anything, and conveys his instructions without the use of speech.”

“Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to keep the people from rivalry among themselves; not to prize articles which are difficult to procure is the way to keep them from becoming thieves; not to show them what is likely to excite their desires is the way to keep their minds from disorder. Therefore the sage, in the exercise of his government, empties their minds, fills their bellies, weakens their wills, and strengthens their bones. He constantly (tries to) keep them without knowledge and without desire, and where there are those who have knowledge, to keep them from presuming to act (on it). When there is this abstinence from action, good order is universal.”

“The DAO (Tao/道) is empty, yet when used it never overflows. Deep indeed — it seems to be the ancestor of all things. It blunts its sharpness, unravels its tangles, softens its radiance, and mingles with its dust. Clear and deep — it seems to exist, yet seems not. I do not know whose child it is; it seems to have existed before the Lord.”

“Heaven and earth are impartial, treating all things as straw dogs; the sage is impartial, treating all people as straw dogs. Between heaven and earth, is it not like a bellows? Empty yet never exhausted, the more it moves, the more it produces. Much speech leads to exhaustion; better to hold to the center.”

“The spirit of the valley never dies — it is called the mysterious female. The gate of the mysterious female is called the root of heaven and earth. It flows continuously, barely perceptible; use it, and it never runs dry.”

“Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are able to continue and endure. Therefore the sage puts his own person behind, and yet it is in front; he puts his own person out of sight, and yet it is preserved.”