Verse 11: Nothing is Useful
Thirty spokes join at one hub.
Integrating what isn’t and is,
makes a cart useful.
Verse 10: Can it be?
Sustain the unity of Yang and Yin,
Can it be separated?
Caress and soften the breath,
Can it be pure and united?
Verse 9: Moving Smoothly
Excessive accumulation.
Stop!
Endless forging and sharpening
Ruins the edge.
Verse 8: Effortless Nature
The highest virtues are like Water.
Water’s virtue is to benefit all things,
not strive against them.
It rests in places people consider foul.
Thus, it is like the Dao.
Verse 7: Sheathing Light
Heaven is permanent; Earth is eternal.
Nature is permanent and eternal
because it is not self-made.
Being other-made enables immortality.
Verse 6: Becoming Sensable
The fertility of the spirit is eternal.
The profound and mysterious creatress.
Verse 5: Using Nothing-ness
Nature is not benevolent;
all things serve their purpose and are destroyed.
The Wise are not benevolent;
people serve their purpose and are destroyed.
Verse 4: Without Origin
The Dao flows from a bottomless vessel,
Throughout eternity, it cannot be depleted.
So deep!
It is the wellspring of all that is.
Verse 3: Cherishing People
Refrain from making a big deal about talent;
ordinary people won’t compete for recognition.
Make something important difficult to obtain
and people will be tempted to steal it.
Verse 2: Cultivating the Main Point
Once beauty is recognized,
the idea of ugliness is created.
Once good is established,
so is the notion of not good.