When people recognise beauty,
they also see ugliness.
When they praise skill,
they create the idea of lack.

Being and non-being give rise to each other.
Difficult and easy shape one another.
Long and short define each other.
High and low reveal each other.
Sound and silence harmonise together.
Before and after follow in turn.

The sage acts without striving
and teaches without speaking.

Things arise — he does not claim them.
They grow — he does not possess them.
They unfold — he does not control them.

He completes his task,
then lets it go.
Because he does not cling,
his power endures.