天下皆知美之为美，斯恶已；皆知善之为善，斯不善已。故有无相生，难易相成，长短相形，高下相倾，音声相和，前后相随。是以圣人处无为之事，行不言之教，万物作焉而不辞，生而不有，为而不恃，功成而弗居。夫唯弗居，是以不去。
      It is because every one under Heaven recognizes beauty as beauty,that the
      idea of ugliness exists. And equally if every one recognized virtue as
      virtue, this would merely create fresh conceptions of wickedness. For
      truly 'Being and Not-being grow out of one another; Difficult and easy
      complete one another. Long and short test one another; High and low
      determine one another. Pitch and mode give harmony to one another. Front
      and back give sequence to one another'. Therefore[1] the Sage relies on
      actionless activity, Carries on wordless teaching, But the myriad
      creatures are worked upon by him; he does not disown them. He rears them,
      but does not lay claim to them, Controls them, but does not lean upon
      them, Achieves his aim, but does not call attention[2] to what he does;
      And for the very reason that he does not call attention to what he does He
      is not ejected from fruition of what he has done.
      [1]Because 'action' can only make one thing high at the expense of making
      something else low, etc.
      [2]Literally, 'does not place (i.e.classify) himself as a victor'. cf.
      MenciusⅡ, Ⅰ;


不尚贤，使民不争；不贵难得之货，使民不为盗；不见可欲，使民心不乱。是以圣人之治，虚其心，实其腹；弱其志，强其骨。常使民无知无欲，使夫智不敢为也。为无为，则无不治。
      If we stop looking for 'persons of superior morality' (hsien) to put in
      power, there will be no more jealousies among the people. If we cease to
      set store by products that are hard to get , there will be no more
      thieves. If the people never see such things as excite desire, their
      hearts will remain placid and undisturbed. Therefore the Sage rules
      　　By emptying their hearts
      　　And filling their bellies,
      　　Weakening their intelligence[1]
      　　And toughening their sinews
      　　Ever striving to make the people knowledgeless and desireless.
      Indeed he sees to it that if there be any who have knowledge, they dare
      not interfere. Yet through his actionless activity all things are duly
      regulated.
      [1]Particularly in the sense of 'having ideas of one's own'.

道冲而用之，或不盈。渊兮，似万物之宗。（挫其锐，解其纷，和其光，同其尘。）湛兮，似或存。吾不知谁之子，象帝之先。
      The Way is like an empty vessel That yet may be drawn from Without ever
      needing to be filled. It is bottomless; the very progenitor of all things
      in the world. In it all sharpness is blunted, All tangles untied, All
      glare tempered, All dust[1] smoothed. It is like a deep pool that never
      dries. Was it too the child of something else? We cannot tell. But as a
      substanceless image[2] it existed before the Ancestor.[3]
      [1]Dust is the Taoist symbol for the noise and fuss of everyday life.
      [2]A hsiang, an image such as the mental images that float before us when
      we think.
      [3]The Ancestor in question is almost certainly the Yellow Ancestor who
      separated Earth from Heaven and so destroyed the Primal Unity, for which
      he is frequently censured is Chuang Tzu.

天地不仁，以万物为刍狗；圣人不仁，以百姓为刍狗。天地之间，其犹橐?乎！虚而不屈，动而愈出。多言数穷，不如守中。
      Heaven and Earth are ruthless; To them the Ten Thousand Things are but as
      straw dogs. The Sage too is ruthless; To him the people are but as straw
      dogs. Yet[1] Heaven and Earth and all that lies between Is like a bellows
      In that it is empty, but gives a supply that never fails. Work it, and
      more comes out . Whereas the force of words[2] is soon spent. Far better
      is it to keep what is in the heart[3].
      [1]Though ruthless nature is perpetually bounteous.
      [2]Laws and proclamations.
      [3]For chung as 'what is within the heart', see Tso Chuan, Yin Kung 3rd
      year and Kuan Tzu,37, beginning. The comparison of Heaven and Earth to a
      bellows is also found in Kuan Tzu (P'ien 11, beginning).


谷神不死，是谓玄牝。玄牝之门，是谓天地根。绵绵若存，用之不勤。
      The Valley Spirit never dies. It is named the Mysterious Female. And the
      Doorway of the Mysterious Female Is the base from which Heaven and Earth
      sprang. It is there within us all the while; Draw upon it as you will, it
      never runs dry.[1]
[1]Lieh Tzu quotes these lines as coming from the Book of the Yellow
      Ancestor; but it does not follow that the Tao Ching is actually quothing
      them from this source. They may belong to the general stock of early
      Taoist rhymed teaching. For ch' in compare below, Chapter 52, line 9, and
      Huai-nan Tzu I, fol.2.