Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness.

All can know good as good only because there is evil.

 Therefore having and not having arise together.

Difficulty and easy complement each other. Long and short contrast each other.

High and low rest upon each other.

 Better stop short than fill to the brim- Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt.

Amass a store of gold and jade and no one can protect it.

Claim wealth and titles and disaster will follow.

Retire when the work is done.

This is the Way of Heaven.

 High winds do not last all morning.

Heavy rains do not last all day.

If heaven and earth cannot make things eternal,

How is it possible for Man?

 The universe is sacred

You cannot improve it-

If you try to change it, you will ruin it.

If you try to hold it. you will lose it.

Force is followed by loss of strength

This is not the way of nature.

That which goes against nature comes to an

early end.

 Why is the sea king of a hundred streams?

Because it lies below them.

Therefore it is the king of a hundred streams

Thus, He who leads first must follow behind. Where there is not contention there is neither victory nor defeat,

That which shrinks must first expand.

That which fails must first be strong.

That which is cast down must first be raised

Before receiving there must be giving,

This is the nature of all things.

Soft and weak overcome the hard and strong.

 A man is born gentle and weak.

At his death he is hard and stiff.

Green plants are tender and filled with sap. At their death they are withered and dry.

Therefore the stiff and unbending is the principle of death.

The gentle and yielding is the principle of life.

 The greatest virtue is to follow nature..

To see the simplicity.

To realize one’s true nature.

To cast off selfishness.

And temper desire.