The valley spirit of the morning light never dies.
The mysterious feminine, the primal mother;
The root and source of heaven and earth,
Elusive as gossamer yet inexhaustible and unfailing.

The wise do nothing through acting,
They do everything through being.
Never making a big deal about anything,
They accomplish everything.

When leaders follow this way,
All things grow naturally
And the world’s passion
To stray from goodness
Is checked at its core
In Nameless Simplicity.

When desires are stilled,
Grasping and fixation dissolve,
Peace reigns,
And in not wanting,
All the world spontaneously
Rests in appreciation.

The wise don’t teach people to believe in words
But only to search for the true meaning.
When people are convinced by concepts,
Foolishness abounds.
When leaders are convinced by concepts,
Corruption, confusion, and conflict reign.
When instead they remain unconvinced and open,
Blessings and goodness spread.

Realizing the difference between understanding the words
And understanding the sense
Is a key to the Hidden Power of Goodness.
This power goes deep and reaches far.
It leads all things back to their own true nature.

The wise have no set mind of their own,
No goals or intensions.
They take the mind of the common people
As their own.
They’re kind to good people
And they’re kind to bad people
Until they become good.
They trust the true
And they trust the false
Until they become true.

With the world
They mix their minds,
With the world
They merge their lives.
People focus their eyes and ears
While sages only smile.

The wise learn to master their emotions but only to a middle-way point. An excess of self-control leads to an insipid life but not enough leads to disaster. Emotions can serve us well if we learn to prudently reign them in by using the energy but not letting it go too far. Learn the art of falling into and quickly getting out of anger. Learn how to stop at the right moment by paying attention, acknowledging the feeling, and taking command over your tempers. Any excess of passion leads to less rationality and more negative consequences. The faster we let anything go, the more difficult to slow and stop it. A proverb says, "No one is wise on horseback" but the skillful and wise accomplish this challenge.

The wise put themselves in the background and end up in front. The more talent we have, the more merit we achieve, the more best to hide. The more difficult the challenge, the more demanding the work, the more we should hide our efforts so that they appear natural and spontaneous. Affectation, pretending to be better than we are, or even bragging about real achievements gives a degraded and artificial flavor to even the most admirable accomplishments. Arrogance repels respect while putting ourselves in the background invites it.

These teachings are easy to understand,
Easy to practice;
Yet very few understand
Or put them into practice.

These words have an ancient source,
These actions an ancient beginning.
But when this source is unknown,
There can be no real understanding.

Therefore the wise appear simple and ordinary on the outside
While holding a precious treasure concealed within.

Think like the wise, speak like the foolish. While the wise often see through deception and distorted views easily, the majority of people don't want things to change—even if obviously for the better—and resist, often violently, contradictory opinions. Few welcome the truth; most hear it as insult, a condemnation of their judgement, a threat to their status quo security. For this reason the wise hide their clarity and insights from the common spotlight, avoid contradicting as well as being contradicted, and take refuge in silence, only becoming visible in special contexts to carefully selected people.

Those steeped in goodness
Are like a newborn baby,
The eternal beginning, the life-bringing source:

Insects don’t sting,
Wild animals don’t attack.
They have weak muscles and soft bones
But a strong and firm grip.
They don’t know anything about sex
But their sexual organs still swell.
Full of true essence in balanced harmony,
They can cry all day without getting hoarse.
With perfectly balanced breath,
They live at endless ease with everything.

Knowing this harmony,
They understand the eternal.
Understanding the eternal,
They become wise.

The foolish though rush about,
Straining and trying to control
Exhausting their vital breath
Leading to rigidity and decay.

Those who know don’t tell,
Those who tell don’t know.

By watching what you say,
By not having rough edges to catch,
By keeping it simple and unconfused,
Become one with the dust of the way
And realize the deep sameness of One Taste.

Then you will stop being controlled
By love and rejection,
By profit and loss,
By praise and humiliation,
By fame and fortune,
By pleasure and power
And you will stabilize the highest realization.

Those who know others are clever,
Those who know themselves are wise.
Those who conquer others are briefly powerful,
Those who conquer themselves are always strong.
Those who know they have enough are rich,
Ambition wanders blind.
Those who stay where they have found their true home flourish.
Our bodies disappear
But the eternal present goes on and on.

Those who seek learning
Grow larger every day.
Those who follow the Tao
Daily shrink.
They lose and they lose
Until they arrive at not-doing.

Nothing to do
Means nothing not done,
Nothing to fuss over,
No gaining ideas.

Those busy interfering,
Making a big deal out of everything
With their ambition and grasping
Are not fit to rule,
To run things,
To be in charge of anything.

Those who tiptoe stumble,
Those who strut can’t walk far,
Those who show off don’t impress,
Those who brag receive no credit,
Those who define themselves aren’t real.
Self-promoters do no good.

This is like unnecessary baggage,
Over-eating, working too hard,
Not knowing when to stop.
When the wise are full, they stop eating;
When tired, they rest;
They avoid what others fight over.

Those who try to improve the world with force
Only come to grief;
Tampering makes things worse.
Because life is sacred just as it is,
It can’t be forced.
Trying to change only harms,
Trying to control only spoils,
To grasp is to lose.

Sometimes things lead,
Sometimes they follow;
Sometimes they’re strong,
Sometimes weak;
Sometimes easy, sometimes hard;
Sometimes success, sometimes failure.

Those who with wisdom advise rulers
Counsel against conquest,
Using aggression & violence to rule.
The nature of weapons
Is to turn against their holder.
Where armies march,
Thorns and brambles grow.
War brings bad harvests.
Great conquerors
Are really great criminals.
Best to defend and stop.

The best leaders succeed
Without becoming arrogant,
Without bragging,
Without feeling proud,
Without feeling regret.
They only do what has to be done,
They succeed without using force.

Like waves in the sea,
Let life ripen and then fall.
The Tao - like the sea itself -
Doesn’t begin or end.
What goes against the Tao
Comes to an early end.

Those with even a little sense
Walk the Way humbly
And arrogance is all they fear.
This way is smooth and straight
But people love their sidetracks.

When mansions are full of splendor;
Fields are full of weeds,
Farms are poor and wild,
And the granaries are empty.

These are the real robber barons,
The worst of lowly brigands
With the vanity of thieves:

People wearing wealth
With weapons at their side
Over-filled with food and drink
Hoarding what they do not need.

Those with outer courage
Dare to act and take life.
Those with inner courage
Dare to not act and give life.
Both of these are sometimes good,
sometimes harmful
When one best, when the other?
Even the most wise don’t know for sure.

The Way of Heaven
Doesn’t compete but easily wins,
Doesn’t speak but answers completely,
Doesn’t request but attracts all it needs,
Doesn’t stress but impeccably acts.

Heaven’s Net catches everything,
The mesh is wide yet nothing slips through.

Though a feeling of complaint often arises of it's own without forethought or choice, the expression of that complaint seldom helps, normally only makes situations worse. In unexpected but consistent ways, complaining draws attention to our faults and discredits our reputation. Our complaints don't dissuade but—like advertisements—encourage our listeners to act in the ways we're complaining about. Instead, advertise the words and actions that create benefit. Praise people who support us to people who don't. Recount the good deeds done for us and the favors we owe those absent to those present. This encourages them to follow those examples and wins more support and favor.

Though many may secretly believe in and search for various kinds of "free lunch," in the real world, success only arises from thoughtful preparation, careful attention, and diligent, hard work. Successful projects finish on time if done well. Don't sacrifice quality for an early completion.

To know without believing we know is best.
Believing we know creates mental illness.
When we recognize belief as sickness,
Healing begins.
Because the wise are sick of this illness,
They aren’t sick.