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the dao that is talked about is not steadfast
whatever you call it is not its regular name
the father of heaven and earth has no name
mother is the name of everything we can count
so not wanting things their true shape is seen
but holding onto them they trick the eyes
these join each other and are the same
only different and what about them
was hard to see is even more unseen
yet they open up inside everything
the dao does nothing so consistently
that nothing goes undone
when those in charge see this
the whole world comes into its own
and if change leads to want
I can press that down with something simple and unnamed
this unnamed and simple thing lets desire go
when that happens quiet happens
then everything in and of itself
comes to rest
the highest de is powerless and so maintains a rightness
the lesser de remains righteous and loses all its power as a result
the highest de does nothing and hasn’t any reason to
the greatest good makes no effort because it doesn’t need it
the common good has things to do and must do them
the status quo wants to be kept and when it isn’t bends your arm
when the dao is lost we are left with the de
and if that power fails we are left with our sense of decency
but losing that leaves us with technical expertise
which hardly skims the now troubled surface of what is open and honest
the way things turn out is how the dao dazzles and dumbs us down
so it makes sense to hold onto substance and to get rid of style
stick to what is sound and solid and stay away from all that’s flashy
which is how you decided to ignore this and pay attention to that
the confidently said is never flashy
the flashy remark lacks all confidence
the person who knows what he’s talking about
never argues while the person who doesn’t know
what he’s talking about always argues
a person who understands something doesn’t dabble
yet the dabbler never understands anything
avoid the accumulation and expansion of things
put what you have to other people’s use
do that and you will experience true accumulation
the overreaching dao is pointed but doesn’t injure
the specific dao is to do what you do without arguing
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