The great Tao flows everywhere
It fills everything to the left
and to the right
All things owe their existence to it
and it cannot deny any one of them
Tao is eternal
It does not favor one over the other
It brings all things to completion
without their even knowing it
Tao nourishes and protects all creatures
yet does not claim lordship over them
So we class it with the most humble
Tao is the home to which all things return
yet it wants nothing in return
So we call it “The Greatest”
The Sage is the same way—
He does not claim greatness over anything
He’s not even aware of his own greatness
Tell me, what could be greater than this?